Friday, October 31, 2008

Holland Park Alive! 2008


Well, we said we'd post more when we knew more. We now know more.

Holland Park Alive! 2008 is going to be huge. It's a launch of the new walking/running track, lovingly nicknamed the 'KensingTAN' as well as a big community day with heaps of events, stalls, music and entertainment. All finishing with an outdoor movie, starting at dusk.

So get your skates on and come along... Saturday November 22nd, with the formalities starting at 4pm. To keep up with the latest, go to hollandparkalive.org.au.

Events will re-visit ghosts of freeways past - bikeportland.org

Posted by Jonathan Maus (Editor) on October 28th, 2008 at 11:16 am

This defunct freeway ramp serves
as a reminder of Portland’s freeway-fighting past.
(Photo:
John Russell)

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
–philosopher George Santayana

Much of the why Portland is a city where bikes, pedestrians, and transit can flourish, is because we have taken a stand against freeways. Two events coming up in November will educate a new generation about Portland’s proud history of freeway fighting and removal.

In the late 1960s and early ’70s, plans for the Mt. Hood Freeway (that would have run through the heart of Southeast Portland) were canceled after neighborhoods revolted and city planners threatened a lawsuit.

Bike Back the Night-22.jpg
Bikes enjoy a ride in Waterfront Park,
perhaps unaware that it used to be
a freeway.
(Photo © J. Maus)

In 1974, a piece of the 99W freeway (known as Harbor Drive) along the western shore of the Willamette River in downtown Portland was removed. In its place was put Tom McCall Waterfront Park, which stretches from the Steel Bridge to the Riverplace Marina — and Portland became the first major U.S. city to remove an existing freeway.

It’s important to note that both of these areas (Southeast Portland and the Waterfront) now see some of the highest levels of bike and pedestrian activity anywhere in the city...

Read the rest of the article at bikeportland.org

Monday, October 27, 2008

Victorians are driven by cars

John Ferguson

THE car is king: new analysis shows per capita vehicle travel is almost nine times that of public transport.

As Cabinet finalises the Victorian Transport Plan, the Brumby Government research shows that personal vehicle travel in Victoria dwarfs that of trams, trains and buses.

A survey of 17,000 households shows that vehicle trips continue to climb. The average Victorian travels more than 9000km a year as either a driver or passenger.

But public transport, though growing in popularity, is attracting patronage of just over 1000km each year.

As a percentage of motorised trips, public transport has, however, climbed from just under 10 per cent between 1994 and '99 to about 13 per cent in 2008.

The figures show that fewer people are using private vehicles to drive into the CBD. But the overwhelming number of trips by Melbourne residents are in cars.

The Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel and Activity data is being used by Cabinet to help it decide how to respond to the Victorian Transport Plan.

The Herald Sun reported this month that a $700 million road bypassing Frankston and slashing travel times for thousands of motorists will be built next year.

The Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel and Activity study, conducted over 12 months from May last year, excludes professional driver travel such as taxis and trucks.

Each member of 17,000 households was asked to fill in a diary for every day of the year covering all forms of travel, from cars to walking the dog.


Read the original article at HeraldSun.com.au

Secrecy over $500m in transport money - TheAge.com.au

Clay Lucas

CONTROVERSIAL laws have been used to stop the public finding out how Connex and Yarra Trams plan to spend over half a billion dollars of public money.

The Brumby Government has relied on commercial-in-confidence laws — which it attacked repeatedly while in opposition — to keep secret the two operators' annual planning documents.

Under freedom of information, The Age requested that the Government release Connex's and Yarra Trams' last five franchise business plans.

The business plans must be given to the Government annually to show how the companies plan to run Melbourne's train and tram network.

After speaking with Yarra Trams and Connex, the Department of Transport deemed the documents too sensitive to release.

"Disclosure would be likely to expose Connex and Yarra Trams … unreasonably to disadvantage," the department's legal adviser, Yvonne Han, said.

Access to Connex and Yarra Trams' most recent business plans was also blocked because it would hamper their bid to keep the lucrative contracts to run trains and trams here, she said.

Both companies are bidding to retain the contracts to run Melbourne's trains and trams for another 15 years. The winning tenderers for the contracts will be announced next July.

Connex and Yarra Trams refused to release their franchise business plans to The Age, also citing "commercial-in-confidence" reasons.

The companies will get $537 million in government payments this financial year, while each also earns over $200 million in fares.

Connex is owned by French company Veolia, and Yarra Trams is owned by MetroLink Victoria — a joint venture between France's TransDev and Australia's Transfield Services.

The Public Transport Users Association said the plans should be public because a privately run transport system needed complete transparency.

"A lot of taxpayer money is going to these companies, so we have a right to know how that money is being spent," president Daniel Bowen said.

Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky declined to comment on the issue.

As opposition leader in the 1990s, Premier John Brumby repeatedly attacked the Kennett government's use of the commercial-in-confidence laws.

Mr Brumby, who promised greater transparency when he became Premier last July, told Parliament in 1994 that the Kennett government had a "propensity to hide behind freedom-of-information legislation and … use expressions like commercial-in-confidence" to keep documents secret.

Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said: "Mr Brumby's hypocrisy in hiding these documents is exceeded only by his inability to deliver the roads, rail lines, trains and trams Victorians need."

Read the original article at TheAge.com.au

Doyle to run for lord mayor - TheAge.com.au

Larissa Ham

Former Victorian Liberal leader Robert Doyle has confirmed he will run for lord mayor of Melbourne.

Mr Doyle, the state opposition leader from 2002 to 2006, will formally announce this morning that he will join the race for the top job.

The former Scotch College teacher is among nine candidates so far to nominate, including the Greens' Adam Bandt, deputy lord mayor Gary Singer, pollster Gary Morgan and Melbourne councillor Catherine Ng.

Mr Doyle holds roles as the chairman of Melbourne Health and director of management consultancy The Nous Group.

He told Radio 3AW this morning that his nomination came after careful consideration.

"I've been in public life once and it didn't end very happily. So you've got to be sure that you've got something to offer and that you want to do something," Mr Doyle said.

His nomination will not be endorsed by the Liberal Party.

"Although yes I'm a Liberal and a very proud one, I'm not bringing the Liberal Party to town hall.

"I want to actually stand as someone who can do things for Melbourne, who can activate things, get things moving again," he said.

Mr Doyle said the task of winning the lord mayor's job would be a tough one.

"I'm certainly no shoo-in as people have suggested. This is an uphill battle and I recognise that."

Mr Doyle will announce his running mate at 10am.

Nominations for the lord mayor's job close at midday tomorrow.

Ballot papers for the election will be sent out from November 11, with voting closing on November 28.


Read the original article at TheAge.com.au

SaveHollandPark at Spring Fling


SaveHollandPark.org.au had a stall at North Melbourne's Spring Fling festival, where we raised awareness of the spectre of the tunnel, and courtesy of St Kilda Cycles, gave away a bicycle (a great, viable alternative method of tranpsort - as shown by the winner, Chris). There was a local street artist's rendition of 'The Lorax', some cars and freeway though a green field (but the kids just wanted to construct trainlines... hmmm...) and the Save Holland Park video playing.

Take a look at a few pix.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Pix from today's rally

Would I were king: a town of talking statues - TheAge.com.au

BOB "King" Crawford is the latest, somewhat unconventional, lord mayor aspirant. In the 1970s, he pioneered free entertainment in Melbourne's public parks. Today he promises the people of Melbourne not one, but two monorails.

Thrilling idea, of course. Possible? Probably not. And that pretty much can be said about many promises made by Mr Crawford and his more earnest competitors in the 2008 race to lead the City of Melbourne. The lord mayor's role has profile, but little power after successive state governments trimmed the council's planning responsibilities and dictated how elections are run, through the City of Melbourne Act.

But the lord mayor is not a total power vacuum. He or she can drive policies on rates, parking, clean streets, bike paths, some roads, city marketing and child care. They also get to wear the possum-skin cloak and mayoral bling. But some of the city's biggest issues - public transport, late-night street safety, sustainability and traffic congestion - cannot be solved from Town Hall alone.

This is why in some candidates' policies you will find the words "State Government" preceded by words like "urge", "encourage", "insist", "in partnership with" and "lobby". But others believe they can and will deliver major state achievements single-handedly...

Read the rest of the article at TheAge.com.au , and learn more about some (but not many) of the policies of the candidates.

Hmm... will Melbourne be the next Brockway, Ogdenville or North Havenbrook?

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Labor muscle ready to take on the Greens

BATTLE lines in the Melbourne City Council election are being drawn to shut out the Greens and replace Lord Mayor John So with a new, compliant leader, commentators say.

Labor candidates spread across several tickets have combined with councillors from Cr So's team and his chief of staff, in what some predict will become a bloc designed to keep crucial preferences locked among the incumbents.

Concern about the Greens is warranted: in 2004 they came second to Cr So, who is not running this time.

Cr So's five-member team is renowned for voting as a bloc at council and committee meetings, and has been accused by rivals of being too subservient to the State Government.

Nominations for all 79 Victorian councils close on Tuesday.

Cr So's departure blows the mayoral and council contests wide open.

Independent mayoral candidate Gary Morgan says there are three groups in the field, his team included. There is a strong chance he will give his preferences to the Greens in an effort to get around what he says is a Labor bloc. "I think Labor will spend a lot of money," he said. "I think they're desperate."

ALP insiders admit the Government does not want a Green lord mayor.

Political commentator Nick Economou said a Greens victory would add to the "sense of momentum the party has in the inner city".

"If a Green mayor were to be elected that would be quite an extraordinary achievement and it would probably cause some nervousness in the ALP, because it would be certain indication of decline in support," Dr Economou said.

Monash University's David Dunstan said the election held danger for the Government.

"An articulate and progressive lord mayoral opponent of Brumby's ALP right centrism, prepared to endorse New Age urban and inner-city quality of life ideas, such as Copenhagen bike paths and a voice at the table on the transport and infrastructure debates, could cause him discomfort," he said.

He said the Government had had "a dream run" with the effervescent Cr So and would be looking for another non-political, pro-business lord mayor.

Greens mayoral candidate Adam Bandt believes there is a strategy to keep him out.

"I think there's a concerted effort by the John So and John Brumby forces to field a range of candidates that appear to be independent but in fact are all cut from the same cloth," he said. "What better way to avoid scrutiny of your record than to have the old guard split up before the election, pretend they're all different candidates, hide their affiliations and then regroup afterwards?

No one in Cr So's team is running on the same ticket, but some have teamed up with ALP candidates....

Read the rest of the article, which includes comments about some of the other current candidates, at TheAge.com.au

I, for one, try to not have an overt political bias on this site (apart from opposing the digging up of the park, of course), but keep in mind that currently the City of Melbourne oppose the digging of a tunnel through our park, and that the Labor State Government have brought about that prospect in the first place. If a labor-aligned candidate became Lord Mayor... well... I don't like to think about that. See you tomorrow where we can show them all how passionate we are!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Sunday's rally in many local newspapers

TRANSPORT action groups across the state will rally at Flinders Street Station later this month after reports the State Government will back Sir Rod Eddington’s proposed east-west road tunnel.

The No Freeway for West Footscray group has joined forces with Brimbank Transport Action Group, Royal Park Protection Group, Yarra Campaign Against Tunnel, and the Flemington and Kensington Transport Action Groups to become the Coalition of Transport Action Groups (CTAG).

CTAG is urging residents to wear red and black - to represent the train lines and stations on Melway - and congregate at the Flinders Street Station clocks at noon on Sunday 26 October for a community rally.

The rally will then move to Alexandra Gardens for a picnic and entertainment.

Protesters will be arriving by train to highlight the state’s need for better and more frequent public transport services.

Debbi Woods from the Brimbank Transport Action Group has ordered 800 dust masks to distribute in a demonstration against the “pollution of traffic” the proposed east-west road tunnel would cause.

Anne Parsons, from the No Freeway to West Footscray group, said organisers were expecting a few thousand residents to attend.

The coalition organised the rally after a Herald Sun article last month reported the State Government was looking into building the proposed east-west road tunnel in the West but would delay construction in the eastern suburbs.

The article also said the government was likely to back the Footscray to Caulfield rail tunnel.

Ms Parsons said the coalition was concerned the State Government would do a Band-Aid job to fix transport issues.

“We don’t want it (the road tunnel), period,” she said.

“We’re worried that commuters’ needs and the needs of the new millennium aren’t going to be met.”

Ms Parsons said the State Government was too busy trying to appease voters in marginal seats in the East instead of listening to the concerns of residents in safe Labor seats.

“The blatant disregard and arrogance of this present Government to its constituents in the West is just overwhelming,” she said.

“It’s going to affect all of us because not only will our homes be affected, our lifestyles and our health… will be sitting under a plume of diesel emissions and pollution.”

Representatives from each group met at the Trades Hall last week to finalise details.

Victorian Government spokesperson Michael Sinclair would not answer questions about the State Government’s thoughts on the road or rail tunnel.

Mr Sinclair said the Government’s Victorian Transport Plan, which would be released in November, would “respond to proposals for Melbourne’s east-west corridor in Sir Rod Eddington’s report and other transport priorities across the state”.
Read the original article in StarNewsGroup.com.au

Also articles in Maribyrnong Leader, Sunshine Star, and Williamstown Star

Monday, October 20, 2008

Melburnians want better system - TheAge.com.au

Jason Dowling

Commuters are crying out for a better public transport system while the State Government pours hundreds of millions of dollars into the city's roads.

Almost one in three Melbourne drivers have reduced their car use in the past year, research by public transport promotion and information service Metlink found.

And 94% believe the Government should be spending more on public transport. Extra spending on roads was supported by 55% of those surveyed.

The survey, taken last month by Sweeney Research, involved 601 respondents in Melbourne and 2000 nationally.

Of all state capitals, the highest support for more spending on public transport was in Melbourne. Of those driving less, two-thirds said they had switched to public transport.

The survey comes as the State Government commits hundreds of millions of dollars to new road projects, including a $1.4 billion upgrade of the West Gate-Monash Freeway and a $700 million Frankston bypass, announced last week.

Metlink said Melbourne's "rail infrastructure has not changed significantly since the 1950s, yet the urban area has nearly doubled". Chief executive Bernie Carolan said the survey showed many car users prioritised investment in public transport over roads.

"For this city to continue to be the sort of place we like it to be, we need a rich mix of public transport," Mr Carolan said...

Read the rest of the article at TheAge.com.au

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

URGENT REQUEST - Submission to PM's infrastructure Australia Commitee by 15 Oct 2008

An email from Protectors of Public Land

Attached is a joint media release of 7 October 2008 from Mr. Anthony Albanese MP Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport. Regional Development, and Local Government and Kevin Rudd PM re the PM's $20 billion nation building fund.

Reference also to our previous message re the opportunity to make a submission to Infrastructure Australia. We quoted an article in the Canberra Times of 1/09/08 entitled "Opposition tax tactics 'to hurt' $20b fund" by Kate Hannon. It said:

"Mr. Albanese (i.e. Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Local and Regional Development) and the chairman of Infrastructure Australia, Sir Rod Eddington, called yesterday for ideas from the public and business community for national building projects. Mr. Albanese said they would take submissions up to October 15 for ideas for projects on roads, railways, ports, water and energy utilities and telecommunications for possible inclusion on the National Infrastructure Priority List.

''I urge the community to take this opportunity to have their say. After all, the quality of the nation's infrastructure affects the bottom line of all businesses and the quality of life of all citizens,'' he said. ''We are asking people to look beyond their own street or neighbourhood and to put forward ideas and suggestions that will strengthen the national economy.''

Sir Rod said he would issue a discussion paper today to stimulate ideas. Infrastructure Australia's immediate tasks were to conduct an audit of the nation's transport, energy, communications and water infrastructure, produce a priority list and develop guidelines for public private partnerships. (My bold print) It is not known after the recent meltdown of financial markets whether private public partnerships will be under consideration.

The link to the relevant section of Infrastructure Australia's website is:
http://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/submissions.aspx

PPL VIC intends to make a submission calling on the Federal Government not to fund road tunnels but to subsidise sustainable public transport and rail for commuters and freight.

Check out the release here.
http://www.minister.infrastructure.gov.au/aa/releases/2008/october/AA150_2008.htm

We'd encourage you to send in an email - A.Albanese.MP@aph.gov.au and perhaps cc it to Lindsay Tanner, local member for Melbourne lindsay.tanner.mp@aph.gov.au.


Monday, October 13, 2008

Outer suburbs 'missing out' on services - TheAge.com.au

Jason Dowling

ONLY one out of every 100 residents in some of Melbourne's outer suburbs use public transport alone to get to work, a report shows.

The parliamentary report into outer suburban economic development found that in one of those areas, the south-east's Casey, almost 70% get to work by car alone.

The Victorian parliamentary committee report highlighted failures in the "availability, reliability, and cost of alternative transport, especially public transport" and called for "more timely, responsive and cost-effective" transport improvements.

"Many residents either willingly or unwillingly endure lengthy, time-consuming and expensive daily commutes by greenhouse-polluting private cars - driven along increasingly congested roadways - to reach their workplaces," the report noted. It said "based on overwhelming evidence" the committee concludes that "additional investment in sustainable transport infrastructure" was vital for ongoing economic development in Melbourne's outer suburbs.

Other recommendations include:

  • Improved minimum public transport standards in outer suburbs;
  • Increased bus services and park and ride facilities;
  • Consideration of commercial water transport services on Port Phillip Bay with new berthing facilities at Mornington;
  • A cost-benefit analysis of completing the "missing link" between the Metropolitan Ring Road and the Eastern Freeway and an analysis on when a new Melbourne Airport rail link will be needed; and
  • Free public transport for the unemployed to attend job interviews.

Committee chairman George Seitz said the State Government was working with local government to improve transport services in Melbourne's outer-suburbs. "We the committee admit through our recommendations that there is a need for improvement," he said.

Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen said an urgent upgrade of suburban public transport was overdue. "The outer suburbs are missing out on viable public transport for most trips at the moment. If you live in the inner suburbs you can probably walk down to the end of your street and catch a tram that runs every 10 minutes or so seven days a week. The outer suburbs are stuck with mostly hourly bus services which are no substitute for driving your car," he said.

The committee, equally divided between government and non-government members, noted Melbourne University research that showed "more cars are driven to work each day in Melbourne than in Sydney, despite Sydney's much bigger workforce".

"The share of workers who drive is now higher in Melbourne than in Sydney, Brisbane, Hobart and even Canberra. This appears to be a result of Melbourne having constructed more urban freeways and tollways over the last 30 years than any other capital."

The report comes as divisions emerge in the Victorian Labor Party's transport policy committee over support for new freeways and before the Government's 30-year, $20 billion state transport plan, to be released next month. It said: "Melbourne has been labelled the 'worst performing city over the (past) three decades' in terms of reducing its dependency on private car transport."

Read the original article at TheAge.com.au

Rudd government's spending list

...The PM is looking for nation-building projects that have social and environmental as well as economic benefits.

He has fast-tracked this process so that Infrastructure Australia has a priority list by year's end.

The ideal would be a reduction in greenhouse gases, improved quality of life, increased productivity, increased competitive advantage and the development of cities and regions.

A perfect starting point is Sir Rod Eddington's east-west road tunnel.

Sir Rod also chairs the Infrastructure Australia panel, but undoubtedly will ensure the independence and integrity of the selections for government approval.

In any case, the strategic east-west tunnel project for Melbourne has long had the strong support of the RACV and Victoria's corporate sector.

It ticks all of Mr Rudd's boxes.

It will combat urban congestion and cuts greenhouse gases by ensuring smooth east-west traffic flows.

It will develop the western suburbs, which have fallen behind other parts of Victoria in job creation.

Another project that fits Mr Rudd's criteria includes Eddington's east-west rail tunnel between Footscray and Caulfield, which will take the pressure off Melbourne's public transport system, unclog our roads and reduce greenhouse gases.

Then there's completion of the Frankston bypass, which can be done fairly quickly...


Read the whole article at HeraldSun.com.au

I'd expect nothing less from Wayne Kayler-Thomson, the CEO of the Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI). (*sigh*)

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Labor split over new tollway plans - TheAge.com.au

Jason Dowling and Paul Austin

A NEW tollway proposal in Sir Rod Eddington's transport plan for Melbourne has split the Victorian Labor Party's transport policy committee.

The committee's secretary has resigned in disgust at a decision to endorse all 20 recommendations in Sir Rod's report to the State Government, including a new multibillion-dollar road tunnel linking the city's east and west.

The committee's response to the Eddington proposals will be presented to the ALP state conference today, and Premier John Brumby will release his transport plan for Melbourne next month.

The secretary, Pat Love, has written to his committee colleagues, along with Roads Minister Tim Pallas and Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky saying he would bring forward the end of his term because of the committee's support for more freeways.

"Recent decisions of the committee, most importantly the decisions to support all 20 recommendations from the (Eddington) study, prompted me to bring this forward prior to the state conference. I handed my resignation to Kevin Bracken last Monday," he wrote in an email sent on Thursday night and obtained by The Age.

"As you know, I have argued both internally on the committee and externally in public forums that now is not the time to build another road tunnel."

Mr Love, who has been secretary of the committee for three years, said: "If it is implemented by State Government, I firmly believe that it will lead to more long-term problems than solutions for people in Melbourne, and especially the people living in the west."

It was wrong to argue that the "massive expenditure of an 18-kilometre tunnel, whether funded by government or private or both, will solve our congestion problems in the inner west, north and inner east".

"I don't believe it will improve transport options for many people in the west, but will further entrench them in car dependence," Mr Love wrote.

"Overall, it will lead to more greenhouse gas emissions from transport in Melbourne, not less."

Transport is expected to be the subject of passionate debate at today's conference, with one draft resolution accusing the Government of failing "to establish an effective process for the development of transport policy for Melbourne in the wake of the Eddington review".

It says the Government manipulated its consultations with the community about transport policy to prevent many ALP members being involved. The process had degenerated into an exercise "in which people were asked little more than to pick their favourite problem and project".

Other draft resolutions seen by The Age call on the Government to:

  • Urgently implement a manufacturing strategy for Victoria "to ensure the ongoing viability of the industry".
  • Immediately ban logging in all water catchments.

The keynote speakers at today's conference will be Mr Brumby and Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Read the original article in TheAge.com.au

Monday, October 6, 2008

Tollway alternative part of new roads plan

Clay Lucas and Jason Dowling
.

A NEW tollway would traverse either semi-rural Warrandyte, or run through the heart of Heidelberg, under controversial plans being devised for the State Government's transport strategy.

The Department of Premier and Cabinet is working with VicRoads on the project, which would see a new tollway connect the Metropolitan Ring Road — which finishes in Greensborough — to either the Eastern Freeway or EastLink.

Secrecy surrounds the Government's transport statement, due out in November.

But Government sources have told The Age the transport team is working on economic analysis of three route options for a major new tollway.

The routes are:

  • From Greensborough to the Eastern Freeway, running through Heidelberg; or
  • From Greensborough to EastLink in Ringwood, with the road running via Eltham and Warrandyte; or
  • Sir Rod Eddington's $9 billion road tunnel route from Clifton Hill to Footscray.

Roads Minister Tim Pallas met financiers Babcock and Brown last month to discuss funding possibilities for new tollways.

The State Government has recently polled residents in Eltham and Warrandyte on their support for a new road link, which would traverse some of the city's most environmentally sensitive areas.

And Government emails obtained by The Age show VicRoads is determined to retain land in Greensborough set aside for the ring road connection.

Nillumbik Council, which covers much of the area a new tollway would run through, opposes the project. Cr Greg Johnson said locals would fight a new freeway connection through the area.

As opposition leader in the 1990s, Premier John Brumby ruled out building a freeway along the proposed Nillumbik route.

"The ALP opposes this road on environmental grounds, and because of the enormous disruption it would cause to property owners whose homes would be demolished," Mr Brumby wrote in a 1995 letter.

One roads industry source said there was still an appetite to build major toll roads, despite the turmoil on financial markets.

And ConnectEast director Max Lay, a former senior VicRoads bureaucrat, said big toll road projects were "seen as a safe harbour for long-term investments".

News of the road plan comes as the Greens today launch their new $14 billion transport plan — along with a marketing campaign targeting Mr Brumby's support for new road infrastructure.

Under the Greens' People Plan, detailed in an extensive new website at www.thepeopleplan.org.au, Melbourne's public transport system would be expanded dramatically. The plan includes new train lines to Doncaster, Mernda, Rowville and Melbourne Airport.

There would also be a major new CBD metro system, with new train stations built in the CBD at Kings Way and St Kilda Road, in the inner north at Parkville, Carlton and Fitzroy, and elsewhere.

And in an attack ad devised by South Melbourne ad agency Cyclone, Mr Brumby is portrayed as a mole, tunnelling to create "a profit plan for political survival".

Read the original article at TheAge.com.au

One person's discussion of the Greens' 'The People Plan' is here - http://reubenville.blogspot.com/2008/10/greens-transport-plan.html

The BrumbyMole

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Are you eligible to vote?

If you live in the City of Melbourne (which, of course, includes Kensington), you should ensure you are eligible to vote in the upcoming elections. Click here to go to the appropriate page of the City of Melbourne website.

There's now three confirmed candidates, and a recent poll suggest that former State Liberal leader, Robert Doyle, would be a favourite should he put his hand up.

So far, to our knowledge only Adam Bandt (Greens) has released any policies. We'll keep you posted - especially when it comes to the tunnel and the park(s).

Friday, October 3, 2008

Holland Park Alive! - 2008

Put this one in your diaries.

A huge event to celebrate the park, and the new running track will be held on :

Saturday, November 22nd

Starting mid-afternoon, there will be a variety of events, including running tracks circuits (for all sizes of kids and adults), community stalls and demonstrations, food and fun. The YMCA Community Centre will open its doors and it will all end with a movie!

Sounds great? We think so. Take a look for yourself.