Tag: presentations

Eastern Volunteers Sponsors and Supporters Evening

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Eastern Volunteers as a regional community based organisation, works in partnership with local government and businesses to provide its services to the community.

This evening, Eastern Volunteers held a function to officially thank its business and government partners with their assistance. This included the sponsors of the Annual Fun Run that was held in March, as well as the Multicultural Festival, which will be held again this October.

The function included video presentations from the two public events, highlighting the strong community participation with Eastern Volunteers and the benefits provided to sponsors in supporting these activities.

The 2010 Eastern Volunteers Multicultural Festival:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXZyhK8NTOE]

The 2011 Eastern Volunteers Annual Fun Run:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TwvUsR98Oo&rel=0]

Further partnership opportunities exist throughout this year, including the Business Booster Breakfast on the 8th of August and the Eastern Volunteers Multicultural Festival, which will be held on the 9th of October.

For further information please visit www.easternvolunteers.org.au.

Media Release: Change to local law encourages debate and interaction at Meetings

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To ensure that Council meetings are more interactive and engaging, Maroondah City Council has formally adopted a change to a Local Law at its meeting on Monday 16 August.

Local Law 9 will now replace Local Law 7 that regulates meeting procedures at Council Meetings.

“The changes demonstrate Council’s overwhelming support for accessible and accountable Local Government, and will permit the community to hear and see more than ever before,” said Mayor of Maroondah, Councillor Alex Makin

“An example of some of the changes includes the opportunity for the public to hear Council presentations to further explain agenda items. Councillors will also present Ward reports to keep the community up to date with new developments and projects,” said Cr Makin.

The proposed amendment had been on public exhibition at Braeside Avenue as well as at Council Service Centres and on the website, and the public was encouraged to make submissions.

The submissions received all had the same theme -the addition of Acknowledgement of Country to the Order of Business for Council meetings.

“Following the public submissions, Council is proud to incorporate an Acknowledgement of Country as part of the Order of Business at both Ordinary and special meetings of Council,” Cr Makin said.

The Acknowledgement of Country forms part of Council’s Reconciliation Policy Statement which reaffirms its commitment to the process of reconciliation and the desire to build strong partnerships with the local Indigenous community.

“Another significant change to meeting procedures is that Question Time can be extended by an additional 10 minutes if required to complement the aim of increased participation and interaction from the community,” said Cr Makin.

As well as changes to process, the Council Chamber has also experienced a change to layout.

“New ramp access will improve accessibility to the chamber floor. Plus, the change to the seating arrangements means that Councillors will no longer sit with their backs to the public gallery, thereby promoting a feeling of inclusiveness,” Cr Makin said.

Council meets on the third Monday of each month and meetings are open to the public. Meeting dates may change if the meeting falls on a public holiday. Council is generally in recess in January.

The next meeting is scheduled for 7.30pm on Monday 20 September at Council Chambers, Braeside Avenue Ringwood.

Ringwood Historical Society – Australian Comforts Fund

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The final Ringwood Historical Society meeting for 2008 included two presentations, the first discussed the Australian Comforts Fund and the second included advice on the resources that are available for people interested in researching local history.

The Australian Comforts Fund was a voluntary organisation that was formed to support Australian troops serving overseas. The Australian Comforts Fund, which included divisions in each state, was federated in 1916 becoming the nation’s first federated organisation.

The activities within the Australian Comfort Fund were largely organised by women who led fundraising activities to support Australian troops during World Wars I and II. While the Red Cross assisted injured soldiers and prisoners of war, the Austalian Comforts Fund supported soldiers through providing additional food, clothing, socks and other gifts.

Local branches of the Australian Comforts Fund existed within Ringwood, Croydon and South Warrandyte. The Ringwood branch raised over 3,500 pounds before it was formally dissolved in March 1946. The branch was under the auspice by the RSL War Services Fund and heavily involved in fundraising activities including dances and raffles since the organisation had no form of government assistance. The women involved in the branch also spent many hours providing in-kind support such as knitting and packaging hampers to send to the troops overseas.

Following this presentation there was a discussion on the information sources that are available to assist in researching local and family histories. The State and National Libraries were mentioned, as were local historical societies and the archives that they retain. Council rate books, newspaper archives, records on births, deaths and marriages can also assist in research efforts.

The Ringwood Historical Society has extensive archives and its members also provide first-hand knowledge of Ringwood’s heritage. The society must be congratulated for its efforts in documenting Ringwood’s heritage and for encouraging the community to take an interest in local history.

Eastern Region Climate Forum

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Mitigating climate change and improving our urban sustainability must be a priority for all levels of government. This evening, the Eastern Region Climate Network, comprising of individuals and groups within Knox, Maroondah, Whitehorse and the Yarra Ranges, organised the Eastern Region Climate Forum, to discuss climate change and the need for action.

The Forum was held in Ringwood and included presentations from Dr. David Spratt the author of Climate Code Red: the case for emergency action and Matthew Wright from Beyond Zero Emissions. Tim Forcey, a member of the Sandringham Climate Action Group served as MC for the evening.

The importance of climate change has been recognised by levels of our political system, with the Governor of Victoria Professor David de Kretser acknowleding that ‘There is no doubt in my mind that this is the greatest problem confronting mankind at this time…a state of emergency.’

Dr. Spratt spoke about the growing evidence that conclusively demonstrates that action of climate change is required now to prevent the melting of Arctic ice caps and the Himalayan glaciers, which provides 40% of Asia’s fresh water supplies. On a per capita basis, Australia is currently one of the world’s largest sources of greenhouse emissions reinforcing the need for leadership.

While Australia is now a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, it included a unique Australian clause, which allowed the reduction of land clearing to be factored into the emissions target. In reality Australia’s emissions are actually 8% above the 1990 Kyoto targets.

Matthew Wright discussed solutions to mitigating climate change with research finding that 25% of actions that would reduce emissions would in fact be cost positive. This would be due to increasing efficiencies, such as harnessing solar and wind power, as well as reducing dependence on oil, through improving public transport. The savings produced by these initiatives would then provide a funding source for further greenhouse reductions.

Local government clearly has a role in reducing greenhouse emissions to ensure environmental, social and economic sustainability. As an example, many of the actions within council’s energy fund will become cost positive within three years. This not only reduces greenhouse emissions but will also provide a saving for ratepayers.

Given the importance of climate change it was disappointing that there so few candidates at the forum. In the Mullum Ward, only Jo-anne Taylor, Peter Feeney, Adam Pepper and myself attended the entire evening. One does need to question the sincerity and genuineness of candidates who fail to attend a forum on such an important issue.

I am committed to reducing council’s greenhouse emissions and achieving a carbon neutral target. I am also in favour of interim targets to measure council’s progress towards this goal and to ensure that council is actually reducing emissions, rather than merely offsetting and shifting the burden.

All levels of government need to act in regard to climate change and we need a council that is committed to making a difference to our sustainability.

Victorian Transport Infrastructure Summit 2008

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This afternoon I was invited to participate within a panel discussion for the 2008 Victorian Transport Infrastructure Summit. This year’s summit had an emphasis on sustainable transport and the need for a coordinated approach from all levels of government.

As the Deputy Chair of the Eastern Transport Coalition, I discussed our recent survey results which demonstrated that residents within the eastern suburbs overwhelmingly support the call for better public transport.

In addition over two-thirds of respondents believed that governments were not giving sufficient priority to the provision of public transport. In support of this view, the majority of people stated they would use public transport if it were adequately provided.

The message from Eastern Melbourne is clear – the one million residents of Melbourne’s outer eastern suburbs want governments of all levels to work cooperatively to provide better public transport.

Councillor Magazine: How councillors can harness the Internet

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Councillor is a quarterly magazine designed to help educate current councillors and demonstrate innovative approaches to local government.

I was contacted by Councillor Magazine to write an article on how councillors can harness the Internet to assist in encouraging dialogue with their community. The article was featured in the September/October edition of the magazine:

How Councillors can harness the Internet

City of Maroondah councillor Alex Makin has operated his own website and blog since 2004. In this article, Cr Makin describes how councillors can also establish their own website and blog, and why more elected members need to use the Internet to engage the community.

Compared to the UK and the US, Australian politics has been relatively slow to embrace the capabilities of the Internet and its potential to re-engage the community and our constituencies.

While the use of websites is not new, Australian politics is still typically not using the Internet for more than a digital version of their off-line campaigns. The Internet, through the use of blogging has the potential to be so much more.

As local Councillors, representing the needs of our local constituencies, we are best placed to take a leadership role of embracing the Internet to create dialogue and re-engage with our communities.

We need to move beyond static webpages and move into an era of dynamic blogging and dialogue.

Going beyond a website

Some Councillors already have experience with establishing a website. A blog extends the capabilities of a website by providing interactive content.

A website can be likened to a static shop window, which displays information but provides little opportunity for someone to interact with the content.

Standard websites can also become difficult to maintain over the longer term as information becomes out of date.

A blog, otherwise known as weblog, is an interactive website, likened to a diary, that allows you to post new entries, keeping content relevant and allows people to post comments and subscribe to updates.

Blogs use categories and tags to file new content and provides readers with the opportunities to subscribe to updates so they are notified when new content is posted.

Getting started – what do you need?

Establishing a website is neither difficult nor expensive.

There are numerous free tools, such as www.wordpress.com or www.blogspot.com, which provide templates and a basic blogging presence free of charge. Using these tools you can set up your blog, complete with photographs and content within 10 to 15 minutes.

While these free tools provide you with a good start, there are advantages in having your own web presence.

To do this you firstly need a domain name. A domain is the physical name of the site, such as www.alexmakin.com.au. Domain names are easier for people to remember and also provide greater flexibility in how your site will look and function. A .com.au domain normally costs around $65 per year, US .com domains are slightly cheaper.

Secondly, you need a web host. The host provides the computing system that stores your website and makes it viewable on the Internet. Total costs for hosting a site varies but you generally do get what you pay for.

If you want to set up a blog you’ll need a host that supports database and dynamic capabilities, namely functionality called mySQL and PHP. Most mid-level hosting packages provide these features.

I use a carbon neutral hosting provider that provides maximum reliability and detailed site statistics, my costs are roughly $300 per annum.

While free blogging providers certainly have their use, your own dedicated web presence will provide you with greater flexibility in the functionality and features of your site.

In addition many hosting providers are able to supply detailed site statistics so you can ascertain how people are accessing your website and the content they are accessing.

Getting your blog online

One of the common mistakes people make is keeping their blog separate to the rest of their website.

Web users typically dislike navigating through a site; so if the content isn’t there when the page loads, it is unlikely that they will look to find what they want.

Likewise don’t reinvent the wheel. There are many blogging programs, such as WordPress (www.wordpress.org) that are available free of charge and provide the functionality that you need.

WordPress and other blogging tools, such as Movetable Type use templates that guide the layout of a site. There are many templates that are available and these can be further customised.

Once you have downloaded WordPress or a similar package, you will need to upload to your website. Your hosting provider should be able to assist with this, once uploaded you will be able to install the package and begin blogging.

WordPress (which is the program I use), allows you to create two types of content, pages and posts. Pages are designed to be static content that is always available, like contact or about pages. These are the links across the top of my site.

Pages contain information that generally does not change, such as my contact details or information about the ward I represent.

Posts are the blogging element of your site. Posts are filed in specific categories (such as urban sustainability, accessibility, delegates reports that I use on my site), as well as tags, which help define the content of the post (such as accessibility, public transport, planning and so on).

Posts relate to a certain event or activity that occurred at a point in time and hence newer content appears towards the top of the page. Blog posts can be used to discuss council events, community meetings or other activities you undertake as a councillor.

When I first designed the website in 2004, the concept of blogging was still relatively new, so I referred to the blog as an Internet Journal.

The Journal stores the posts I created with the five newest entries listed first.

Each blog post provides an opportunity for people to comment. This way your community can add their thoughts or ask for additional information.

Blog posts can also be linked to each other, meaning you can provide an easy chronology of events. For example, I link my delegates’ reports, to each event that I discuss so that people can easily find additional information on the activities I attend and speak about.

Posts and pages are created just like using a standard Word Processor or email program. Like email you can also attach other documents to your posts to allow people to download additional content, I normally discuss presentations I deliver and include the slides for people to download.

The template system in WordPress or similar tools controls the layout of the post so you simply need to type its content. This means each post and page will have a similar look and make it easier for people to navigate throughout your site.

My website has had three substantially different designs and the template system meant the content of my site was unaffected by these changes.

Separating the layout of a site from its contents makes it much easier to maintain and extend compared to traditional web pages.

Extending your blog

Comments are usually moderated meaning that they need your approval prior to being included on your blog. This means you have the possibility to prevent inappropriate comments from being included on your site. Likewise spam filters exist which block spam comments from appearing.

While you have the ultimate control over what comments are included within your blog, do not go overboard in preventing feedback.

The purpose of a blog is to encourage dialogue and interaction and all relevant comments should be encouraged. Also make sure that email and phone details are available as some people will prefer these methods of communication.

Once you have established your blog and website it is worth considering ways of expanding its reach. Blogs utilise RSS feeds which allows people to be notified when new posts are created.

RSS feeds operate similarly to email where a subscriber receives the content of the post. RSS feeds are a standard feature of blogs and it is worth encouraging your readers to subscribe to them.

In addition you can also create an email subscription list for people that prefer to receive emails. This way email subscribers can receive an email message of your blog post and raise awareness of the activities you undertake as a councillor.

Just as newsletters assist in informing the community about our activities as a councillor, an electronic newsletter or RSS feeds can expand the reach of your communications with the public.

WordPress has a number of plugins, which can add additional features. Examples of plugins include the calendar and event system I use on my site. This enables me to post details of meetings I attend. Likewise previous posts can be accessed through the calendar or using the search functionality.

The web as an accessible medium

The Internet, through accessible web standards, means we can truly create a medium that can be experienced and accessed by all people.

Screen readers, larger font sizes, colour contrast and other technologies are available to assist people with disabilities to view content on the Internet and your website should be mindful of accessibility issues.

For example screen readers cannot read images so any graphics you include on your site should not be used in place of text.

In addition, the layout of your site should be mindful of people who prefer larger font sizes and your site should adapt to these requirements.

Future use of the Internet by councillors

Councils are the closest form of government to the community and we need to consider new methods of encouraging community engagement and interaction. In particular the web has the potential to assist us in communicating with younger people, as well as people with disabilities and the many other people in our community that prefer communication via the Internet.

Just as mobile phones are now considered essential equipment for Councillors, no doubt a web presence will be seen as a necessity shortly into the future. As councillors we have an obligation to remain relevant and keep pace with new technologies.

Creating a web presence is neither difficult nor time consuming and while purchasing your own domain and hosting provider may incur some expense it will be of benefit to the wider community and assist in conveying the work you undertake as a councillor.

Maroondah Business Week 2008 – Sustain and Grow your Business

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Maroondah Business Week will run from from October 27-31 with the theme of Grow and Sustain Your Business.

Highlights include presentations from Sigrid Thornton at the Eastland Women in Business Lunch to be held on Monday the 27th of October, David Parkin at the NAB Business Breakfast on Wednesday the 29th of October and Jen Harwood who is returning to hold a business networking event.

Topics include access to finance, getting started in small business, time management skills and developing a web presence. An information session will also be held on transforming walkers into shoppers, an important topic given the effects that rising petrol prices have had in encouraging sustainable transport, such as walking.

Business Week concludes with the QIC Cocktail Function on Friday the 31st of October, which will welcome new businesses and celebrate businesses that have been operating for more than 30 years within Maroondah.

For more information on Maroondah Business Week please visit www.bizmaroondah.com.au

Eastern Transport Coalition Public Transport Summit

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The Eastern Transport Coalition represents one million residents across the seven eastern metropolitan councils within Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

Today’s summit highlighted the need for public transport improvements within the eastern suburbs to become sustainable and accessible through providing transport choice for residents facing worsening traffic congestion and rising petrol prices. The theme includes the infrastructure needs of the region and included presentations on the need for new rail lines serving Rowville and Doncaster, as well as required improvements to the Belgrave and Lilydale rail lines.

The keynote speakers, Professors Peter Newman and Graham Currie, spoke about the importance of public transport in reducing greenhouse emissions and mitigating the effects of rising petrol prices. Both speakers reiterated the trend of rising petrol prices and demonstrated quite clearly that such increases were only going to continue.

While the Premier was unable to attend, Rob Hudson, the Parliamentary Secretary for Public Transport, stated that the Government would release a new transport plan by the end of the year. While the State Government released Meeting Our Transport Challenges in 2006, the plan was widely condemned as being inadequate and failed to plan for any infrastructure improvements in the eastern suburbs. It is hoped that the government’s next plan will rectify these shortcomings.

The Opposition Leader, Ted Baillieu, spoke about the government’s litany of public transport plans and the increasing cost of inaction. While the opposition leader did not make any commitments, he did highlight the need for rail lines to Doncaster and Rowville.

The summit was extremely well attended by community members, as well as local councillors, State MPs and members of local environment and transport groups. Time was provided to allow attendees to discuss the needs of the eastern region and during this time the need for accessibility improvements on public transport was mentioned.

Alex speaking at the ETC Public Transport Summit

I spoke on the needs of the Belgrave/Lilydale lines and Ringwood with Cr. Samantha Dunn from the Shire of Yarra Ranges, who spoke about the need for rail duplications to improve the reliability of the line.

My presentation focused on the need for rail improvements between Box Hill and Ringwood and the importance of Ringwood as a regional centre within the eastern region. The expectations of eastern Melbourne and its 1 million residents were conveyed at this summit. The State Government must act and deliver the much needed public transport infrastructure, including the redevelopment of Ringwood Station, that is urgently required for the region

Please continue reading to view a copy of the speech I delivered at the summit.

Continue reading “Eastern Transport Coalition Public Transport Summit”

Eastern Transport Coalition: Planning for the public transport summit

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This evening’s Eastern Transport Coalition meeting focused on the public transport summit planned for the 4th of July. This public transport summit will focus on the infrastructure needs of Melbourne’s outer eastern suburbs and will include presentations on Doncaster rail, Rowville rail as well as Ringwood Station and the Belgrave/Lilydale lines.

While rising petrol prices have led to a reduction in vehicle usage within inner Melbourne, families in Melbourne’s outer suburbs are left struggling under the strain of rising prices due to the lack of readily available public transport.

The State Government must realise that it is time to move on from transport neglect and towards an era of major public transport expansion to provide transport choice for Melbourne’s outer suburbs. Only a significant boost to public transport will provide an alternative to rising petrol prices and reduce greenhouse emissions that are continuing to spiral out of control.

The summit includes a number of prominent transport and planning experts, including Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University and Professor Graham Currie, Monash University Chair of Public Transport.

Ringwood Station and the importance of Ringwood as a regional centre will feature as one of the topics to be discussed at the summit. I will presenting information on the Ringwood Transit City and the importance of public transport in providing a safe, accessible and vibrant environment at 10:45 am.

The summit entitled ‘It’s Time to Move On’ will be held on Friday the 4th of July from 8:30 am at the Maninngham Function Centre, 699 Doncaster Road in Doncaster.

For further details please visit www.etc.org.au.

Final Heatherdale Communtiy Action Group meeting for 2007

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Tonight I attended the final Heatherdale Community Action Group meeting for 2007. Tonight’s meeting provided an opportunity to reflect on the amenity issues being experienced along Heatherdale Road and council’s response, such as two successful prosecutions against Southern Rocycling, to try and improve this situation.

While the primary focus of the Heatherdale Community Action Group is the amenity of Heatherdale, a locality which is divided between the Cities of Maroondah and Whitehorse, speakers are regularly invited to provide to discuss issues of interest to the membership.

Tonight’s meeting included a presentation from St. John Ambulance who discussed the role of the not-for-profit organisation and the steps involved in delivering first aid. The speaker presented the DR ABC action plan, which involves the following steps:

  • Danger – checking for danger to yourself and others
  • Respond – is the person responsive?
  • Airway – clearing the airway
  • Breathing – look for signs that the person is breathing
  • Circulation – check breathing and pulse to determine if resuscitation is required

The discussion with St. John Ambulance, was one of the many presentations delivered over the course of the year at the meetings. Meetings for the Heatherdale Community Action Group will resume in February 2008.