I just SPAMmed my friends...

... but sometimes, the reason is that compelling...

Hello,

Firstly, I apologise for sending you a 'broadcast' style email. It's not something I would normally do, but it IS that important.

Secondly, for those of you who haven't heard from me for years, or if I'm a name from your deep dark history, or even just a mailing list, bear with me and keep reading.

Thirdly, those of you I'm in regular contact with, you've probably been expecting this, and I apologise if you receive it more than once.

You probably know that the State Government is planning on building another toll-road - a big tunnel linking the Eastern Freeway to the Tullamarine Freeway, and then on to somewhere in Footscray.

If you trust me - please send the email text below (of course, feel free to change to suit your sensibilities) to eastwestyoursay@doi.vic.gov.au NOW... or at least prior to Jul 15th, which is the deadline for them receiving responses.

If you don't want to just accept what I'm saying - take a look at http://savehollandpark.blogspot.com/2008/06/so-whats-all-this-about.html , or just elsewhere on that site (link below - there's plenty of other suggestions there.\, including alternative solutions), read up, an get informed. Hell... just google eddington tunnel and make your own decisions.

If this car tunnel is allowed to be built, not only is it an incredible waste of money that could be put towards more sustainable solutions, but it's a legacy that our children, our children's children, etc etc will have to live with forever.

Anyway... here's the email. You can now resume your normal programming...

Thanks (I hope!)

C
Have you sent in your email to the Vic Gov yet? Find out how at
http://savehollandpark.org.au

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Copy (change if you like) and paste the following to eastwestyoursay@transport.vic.gov.au :

Dear East-West Options Review Panel,

I would like to register my opposition to Recommendation Four of the East-West Link Needs Assessment (EWLNA), for a East-West link car tunnel, on the following grounds :

- Based upon the economic report underlying the EWLNA, the return on investment of the East-West Link road tunnel is criminally low, and is a neglegent usage of public funds. If another Public-Private Partnership is entered into, Victorian residents will ultimately end up paying more, as evidenced in many other major infrastructure projects undertaken Australia-wide.
- Environmentally, the prospect of a tunnel goes against the State Government's own Greenhouse gas targets. Building another road is encouraging people to use their cars more. Instead, we should be encouraging people to use alternatives to private vehicles wherever possible.
- During construction, and if page 75 of the Engineering report underlying the EWLNA is to be followed, after completion vital Melbourne parkland will be reduced, and lost forevermore. Royal Park, JJ Holland Park, Newlands Wetlands and Trin Warren should not be negotiable. In fact, inner city and inner suburban parkland should be increased, to cater for higher density population. JJ Holland Park, in particular, is home to a number of sporting and community groups, as well as children's facilities that would have to discontinue if the park was lost. The City of Melbourne has no capacity to relocate them elsewhere, as other parks/ovals are full to capacity.
- The vast majority of users of the Eastern Freeway are not headed west, or in fact north. They are headed into the CBD. This means that if people do use the tunnel, at the earliest opportunity (potentially, the corner of Dynon and Kensington Roads) they will head back into the city, further choking the roads which the EWLNA intends upon reducing traffic. Many city's freeway systems provide 'the fastest trip between two bottlenecks'. This isn't the future that Melbourne's infrastructure should be creating.

Recommendation Four of the EWLNA is old thinking for a problem that has been highlighted for decades. What is required is newer, more sustainable thinking, so that current, and future generations of residents of Melbourne, do not suffer.

Yours faithfully,