Maroondah City Council has launched the Ringwood – The Missing Piece campaign seeking a funding commitment from all state political parties for the upgrade of Ringwood Station into an accessible, safe and integrated interchange.
Maroondah Mayor Councillor Alex Makin, who launched the campaign, said a safe, vibrant and integrated station was the missing piece of the Ringwood Activities District.
“Council has created a Ringwood Central Activities District jigsaw which highlights the residential, commercial, commercial development in Ringwood and how they are all linked in with the station,” Cr Makin said.
The jigsaw highlights the substantial residential developments, the commercial investment and the significant community facilities, which are available within the Ringwood Central Activities District.
“For example, under construction is a new soccer ground and multi-purpose pavilion and Council is awaiting funding for the proposed Maroondah Aquatic and Leisure planned for the Jubilee Park precinct,’’ Cr Makin said. “All of these venues are within walking distance and on bus routes from Ringwood Station and the Central Activities District.”
“The community clearly sees Ringwood Station as a priority with over 2000 signatures calling for the upgrade and over 500 visitations on Council’s social media campaign. It is time for each state political party to commit to delivering the missing piece and to fund an accessible, safe and integrated transport interchange for Ringwood,” Cr Makin concluded.
Ringwood Station fails to meet disability compliance standards and is perceived to be unsafe due to the poor station design, including narrow and steep ramps. The community has continually called for the full redevelopment of Ringwood Station into a safe, accessible and integrated interchange that will meet the needs of Ringwood as a vibrant urban centre.
While public transport is a State Government responsibility, Council must advocate on behalf of its community and it is clear that Maroondah is seeking a commitment for the redevelopment of Ringwood Station.
Council has been circulating a petition for the past month which has now attracted over 2000 signatures with approximately 1000 visitations through social media tools, including Facebook and Youtube. This evening Council officially launched the Missing Piece campaign with a direct call to action for all political parities to commit to the station upgrade.
Alex with Margaret launching Maroondah's Missing Piece campaign calling for the upgrade of Ringwood Station into an accessible, safe and integrated transport interchange
Ringwood Station is the Missing Piece in a vision for Ringwood, since a lack of commitment diminishes the residential, commercial and community investment that is taking place. Margaret Stevens, a renowned accessibility advocate who spent a week at Eastland collecting signatures for the petition, joined me in launching the campaign and calling on all political parties to commit to Ringwood’s future.
Council’s video highlighting the condition of Ringwood Station was displayed throughout the launch reinforcing the accessibility difficulties that exist.
The speech provided during the launch is available within this post:
In the spirit of Reconciliation, we acknowledge that we are meeting on land for which the Wurundjeri people have been custodians for many centuries, and on land which the Indigenous Australians have performed age old ceremonies.
We, Maroondah City Council, accept, respect and have shared with the Wurundjeri people in their customs of welcome.
The Wurundjeri people support the coming together of all people, respecting their individuality to focus on a unified and cohesive nation.
As you have gathered here this evening, you will have seen the video playing overhead showing the difficulty people in our community, and particularly those with a disability, have accessing Ringwood Station and the 50 year old ramps leading to the station platforms.
This video has been an important element of an advocacy campaign Council has been running over the past six weeks.
The campaign is seeking a funding commitment from all state political parties in the lead up to the State election for the upgrade of Ringwood Station within the next term of government.
The campaign has been running for six weeks with significant support and media coverage from Maroondah’s two local papers, editorial has appeared each week for the past 6 weeks.
Community support has been extremely strong, and to date we have over 2000 signatures to the petition, from individuals and community groups.
One of these individuals is here with us tonight, and I would like to acknowledge Margaret Stevens for her dedication to the cause in securing over 600 signatures from the Maroondah community and beyond during a week at Eastland. In addition, several members of the community, including Dawn Oliffe spent time at Ringwood Station securing signatures for the petition.
Margaret is one of many voices demanding action for Ringwood Station. I have spoken with many people during the course of this campaign and the message from the community is clear, Maroondah residents are tired of waiting, they want a safe, integrated, accessible and vibrant Ringwood Station, and they want it in the term of the next government.
Tonight, Council is launching “The Missing Piece – Ringwood Station” in the lead up to this evening’s Eastern Transport Coalition Forum.
Alex with Margaret launching Maroondah's Missing Piece campaign calling for the upgrade of Ringwood Station into an accessible, safe and integrated transport interchange.
Significant investment and development continues in Ringwood, with support from the State Government and private enterprise, however the commitment to fund the redevelopment of Ringwood Station remains the missing piece of the vision for the Ringwood Central Activities District.
As you can see within the Ringwood Central Activities District jigsaw, we have EastLink providing an important road transport corridor from Mitcham to Frankston, an area responsible for 40 percent of Victoria’s manufacturing output and over 1.3 million people living in the area and providing more than 350,000 jobs.
The sporting, recreational and leisure facilities that either currently exist (Maroondah Federation Estate/Maroondah Art Gallery, tennis, croquet, football and cricket), are under construction (Soccer), or awaiting funding (proposed Maroondah Aquatic and Leisure) in the Jubilee Park precinct are within walking distance from Ringwood Station and the Central Activities District.
New businesses and services are moving to Ringwood, bringing increased employment and spending, as evidenced by the Connect East building perched over EastLink.
Ringwood Lake Park is an icon of Ringwood, providing enormous leisure and recreational pleasure all year round for people of all ages and abilities.
The $39million bus interchange is poised to change the face of Maroondah Highway, however, it does not provide an interface with the existing Ringwood Station.
Residential housing development is showing consistent growth within the Central Activities District with private building developers showing their support for the vision of Ringwood. The new 10 story co-operative housing development will soon be home to over 100 people early next year.
Eastland and the Ringwood Market site are expected to see construction and expansion of retail, community and business floorspace, changing the face of Ringwood significantly.
The Lake to Creek project will see pedestrian and cycling links between the Mullum Mullum Creek and Ringwood Lake, adding another vital layer to the accessibility of our city.
It is time to add the missing piece to the Ringwood Central Activities District jigsaw, a new Ringwood Station.
It is time for each state political party to not only acknowledge the need for an upgrade to Ringwood Station, but to actually stand up and commit to fund this important piece of public transport infrastructure that remains the missing piece of the vision for the State Government’s own Ringwood Central Activities District.
The Ringwood Diving Club is based at Ringwood Aquatic Centre in Jubilee Park, Ringwood and has over 100 members. The Club has a strong history within diving, including having four members who will be competing at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
Today’s annual general meeting provided an opportunity to elect committee members for the upcoming year and to present trophies to competition winners. In addition I spoke about the proposed Maroondah Aquatic and Leisure Centre, which would provide new facilities for the community including vastly improved diving capabilities, as well as wellness and gym components which are currently lacking at the existing Ringwood Aquatic Centre.
The Ringwood Diving Club has undertaken extensive planning for the future, including expanding its coaching capacity, providing coaching for people with hearing impairments and forming alliances with the Whitehorse Diving Club. For further details please visit www.ringwooddivingclub.com.au
The Ringwood Croquet Club is located in Greenwood Avenue and forms part of the Jubilee Park Sporting Precinct in Ringwood. Like many other sporting clubs, the Ringwood Croquet Club has invested in upgrades to its grounds to reduce watering requirements.
This morning I was invited to launch the 2010 Croquet Season and participated in several rounds of croquet with the members. Maroondah is fortunate to be able to offer a range of sporting opportunities for our residents and it is great to see the ongoing interest and participation in croquet.
The Ringwood Soccer Reserve’s multipurpose sports pavilion is starting to take shape with the first of the steel beams being lifted into place last week.
In May 2009, the Federal Government provided $2.9million of funding for the project as part of the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program.
Maroondah Councillor Mayor Alex Makin welcomed Federal Member for Deakin MP Mike Symon and to the site last Wednesday to oversee the continuance of works.
“The old stadium and grandstand have been cleared from the site for some time, so it was amazing to see the crane lifting all of the steel beams into place,” Cr Makin said. “As the pavilion take shapes over the next couple of months the community will be able to start seeing the benefits of the new facility.”
“The redevelopment includes a multi-purpose shared sports pavilion with a boxing gymnasium, office space for the Ringwood District Cricket Association, male and female change facilities, car parking, spectator viewing areas and lighting,” Cr Makin said.
“The facility will also feature many environmentally friendly initiatives including the installation of solar hot water units, bladders will be placed under the building to catch storm water runoff which will be used to flush the toilets, solar panels will be used to generate enough power to light and heat the facility,” Cr Makin said.
The playing field will also be upgraded to an all weather synthetic surface. This project was jointly funded by $650,000 of funding from Maroondah Council and Sport and Recreation Victoria.
The completed venue will be home to the Ringwood City Soccer Club, Ringwood District Cricket Association and the MVC Boxing Club. It will also supplement the other major facilities at Ringwood’s Jubilee Park, including the proposed Maroondah Aquatic and Leisure facility.
The pavilion works are expected to be completed in January next year with car parking sealing to commence in February and the synthetic surface to be installed in March 2011.
The Ringwood Spiders is a football team for people with disabilities and works alongside the Ringwood Redbacks who share the facilities at Jubilee Park in Ringwood.
Due to a rescheduling of grounds the games schedule was modified and this morning the Ringwood Spiders returned to Jubilee Park to play their final home game for 2010. The Ringwood Spiders has grown and developed throughout the year and it is great to see the ongoing cooperation between the Spiders and the Redbacks, as well as the wider community.
The Ringwood Heritage Seniors are based at Maroodah Federation Estate and meet on a regular basis, providing a range of activities and speakers.
This afternoon I spoke with the Ringwood Heritage Seniors and discussed Council’s plans for the revitalisation of Ringwood, including the proposed redevelopment of the Ringwood Aquatic Centre.
There is a need for new community facilities to meet the needs of residents within Maroondah. As an example, the Aquatic Centre has reached the end of its functional life and is clearly not meeting the needs of the community, as evidenced by declining patronage.
Modern Aquatic Centres are multi-purpose facilities, with the gym and wellness centre components complementing the water facilities. In addition, the facilities will enhance the sporting precinct in Jubilee Park and offer a range of facilities for the Maroondah community.
Several of the members are frequent users of the existing Ringwood Aquatic Centre and are looking forward to the improvements.
In addition, the members cited concerns over the lack of a State Government commitment towards accessibility improvements at Ringwood Station. The vision for the revitalisation of Ringwood requires cooperation between all levels of government and it is imperative that the State Government supports this shared future through a commitment to fully redevelop Ringwood Station into an accessible, integrated and safe transport interchange.
The Ringwood Spiders is a football team for people with disabilities and competes within the Football Integrated Development Association (FIDA), where they are fielding two teams for this season.
This morning I attended the Ringwood Spider’s Home Game at Jubilee Park where they competed against Mazenod for the Christian Ampt Memorial Trophy, in recognition of a former player of the Spiders who battled depression. The trophy will be played for each year in honour of Christian who had some of his best games against Mazenod. The match coincided with the Spiders Sponsors Day and provided an opportunity for sponsors to see how their support of the Spiders assists the Club and its members.
They gave their all in the second half and kicked away to a four goal buffer. But Mazenod were not done and two late goals tightened things up. It was a jubilant Spiders though that held on and ran out winning by 13 points.
The Ringwood Spiders has a strong community focus and prides itself on community inclusion. Initiatives such as the junior development squad and cheer squad continue to grow and enable people of all abilities to become involved within the Club and to be a part of the Ringwood Spiders.
While the match was the Spiders last home game for the season there are additional games throughout the season. For furhter information on the Ringwood Spiders please visit www.ringwoodspiders.com.
The Ringwood Croquet Club is part of the Jubilee Park Sporting Precinct and offers both social and competitive croquet. This afternoon I attended the Club to join the celebrations of their court resurfacing works and kitchen renovations.
The Club undertook these court renovations through Council’s third/third/third grants program, which provides funding for infrastructure projects on Council land. The third/third/third program shares the costs of these projects between the Club and Council with the final third being offered as a loan or through Government or other agencies.
The new court surfaces use a summer grass that requires less water than the previous surface. In addition the Croquet Club has installed water tanks reducing their dependence on mains water and improving the sustainability of the Club. It is encouraging to see the Ringwood Croquet Club supporting water conservation initiatives and having such a strong commitment to sustainability.
Central Ringwood Community Centre is located in Bedford Park in Ringwood and serves as a community based facility, providing courses, as well as meeting facilities for other groups. In recent years the Community Centre has had a strong focus on Maroondah’s emerging communities, through providing programs for refugees from Sudan, as well as Burma.
In addition, the Centre has maintained a number of programs for people with disabilities and accessibility is one of the core priorities for the staff and Committee of Management. This morning I was invited to officially open the upgrades to Central Ringwood Community Centre, which provide accessibility improvements in the form of a new meeting room and accessible toilets and change facilities.
Alex with the Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan and Mike Symon, Member for Deakin and Community Centre staff at the opening of upgrades to Central Ringwood Community Centre.
The project was a joint partnership between the Federal Government and the City of Maroondah. The Federal Government invested $200,000 for the upgrades with Council managing the project and delivering the improvements.
The speech I delivered at the opening is available within this post:
