Commentary on the Premier's Transport Summit

Kevin Chamberlin was there, representing the Protectors of Public Lands Victoria inc. He gives his thoughts on the summit.

Protectors of Public Lands Victoria Inc.

COMMENTARY ON THE VICTORIAN TRANSPORT SUMMIT - HELD ON FRIDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 2008, TELSTRA DOME, MELBOURNE

The Protectors of Public Land Victoria Inc. was selected by the State Government to attend the Victorian Transport Summit held on Friday 5 September at Telstra Dome. I attended as their representative.

The speakers at the Summit were:

Premier of Victoria – John Brumby
Minister for Public Transport – Lynne Kosky
Minister for Roads and Ports – Tim Pallas
Minister for Environment and Climate Change – Gavin Jennings
Minister for Major Projects – Theo Theophanous
Minister for Regional and Rural Development – Jacinta Allan
Minister for Planning – Justin Madden
Sir Rod Eddington – Chair “East West Link”

Each of the above made a presentation on the transport needs of Victoria from their respective portfolio obligations. The Summit was also attended by groups from the environment/community, union/trucking lobby, consultants with expertise in this area, RACV/road lobby, State Government administration and elected officials from Local Government. The City of Melbourne was not in attendance.

It became very clear following the presentations by the above that transport issues are very high on the Government agenda and the situation is serious. The State Government clearly sees the creation of major projects to overcome these problems as employment/economic stimulators for the state as much as they see them as solutions to the transport problems. It was emphasized that the cost of Channel Deepening and the M3 had played an important part in the economic figures for Victoria. Theo Theophanous referred to “pipelines of work” and “keepings the skills and equipment in Victoria”. John Brumby referred to “pipelines of projects” twice and stated “we will definitely get these”.

There was a “breakout discussion session” where the participants were divided into 5 groups. The themes were-

• Creating a more livable, fairer and sustainable Victoria
• Meeting the challenge of Public Transport and patronage growth
• Meeting the challenge of road congestion and the increasing freight task
• Meeting infrastructure delivery challenges
• Connecting Regional Victoria

I was in the first grouping along with a cross-section of the participants including Ministers Jennings and Madden and their staff. I made the point, and had some support, that the Government needs to send a very clear message to the community that it is serious about fixing the transport situation in Victoria and a commuter/freight rail solution should be one of the highest priorities, and not new road/tunnel construction. It became clear during discussions in the group and privately, that many of the consultants with expertise in this area consider the situation in inner Melbourne to be so serious that a road/tunnel solution is not feasible. They believe that the social, environmental and economic impact of a road/tunnel solution is not sustainable and cannot be justified.

Other issues of interest were -

• Victoria has 53,000 kilometres of road and 3000 bridges.
• Containers will become much bigger.
• Freight will grow from 15 – 20% of total road traffic.
• Victoria’s population is currently 5.1 million and will grow to 7.6 million in 2036 (this is a government figure and is generally acknowledged to be conservative/inaccurate)
• Melbourne’s population will grow from 3.74 million today to 5.41 million in 2036.
• Regional Victoria will grow from 1.38 million today to 1.85 million in 2036.
• The pressure from population growth will be in the north-west and west of Melbourne and in the Cities of Casey and Cardinia.
• Growth will be slow in the eastern suburbs.
• There will be significant pressure for growth in the inner city.
• Congestion is estimated to cost between $2.6 billion and $3 billion annually.
• The State Government has 7 funding options for major projects including tolls, PPP’s and Federal funding.
• 3% of the journeys in Bendigo are by public transport.
• 24 - Hour freight delivery is seen as an option by the Government.
• 80% of all freight coming out of the Melbourne Port is destined for locations within 50 kilometres.
• Doing nothing about Melbourne’s transport issues is not an option (Eddington and Brumby said this.)
• The Government claims to have spent a total $73 million on bicycle paths.
• The transport system caters for 200 million journeys a year while 10 years ago it was 100 million.
• Freight volumes double every 10 years.
• The Federal Government has a responsibility to contribute to the solutions and is seen as a definite source of funding.
• Urban/strategic and transport planning need to be seen as one at a State level.

In his final address John Brumby guaranteed “the pipeline of projects” and said the Government was looking at a 10-year time frame and believed it could be managed and financed. He wants a strategy based on the whole State with short, medium and long-term objectives. He also stated he wants an improvement in all modes of transport with a “big expenditure” on public transport. He is of the view that we need to make better use of the existing infrastructure and it is essential to get the freight transport system right.

The lobby groups and others with significant interests in this area have the ear of Government and are very influential “behind the scenes”. It is interesting to note the link between the truck lobby and the Transport Workers Union and their influence in the Labor Party. It is now 8 years since the “Make Melbourne Marginal” campaign was started and has resulted in many community and other groups having success with the State Government on issues that are important to them. The view held by many in the Melbourne State and Federal Seats of Parliament was that they would have had very little influence while the Labor Party considered these seats as safe.

Signed:



Kevin Chamberlin
Past President, Protectors of Public Lands Victoria Inc. and, currently, a Committee member

8 September 2008

'Your Say' - document from Premier's Transport Summmit

Click here for a copy (pdf) of the document summarising the responses on the Eddington Report, that was distributed at last Friday's Transport Summit, held by the Premier.

Report on protests at the Premier's Transport Summit - Sept 5th

An email from Royal Park Protection Group

Dear Campaigners for Sustainable Public Transport No Road Tunnels - Report On No Road Tunnels Protest At Premier Brumby’s Transport Summit

Thanks to Protestors
Firstly, many thanks to all - about 50 people - who attended the community protest in the Plaza at the John Batman’s Datum (i.e. the red flagpole marking Batman’s Hill) at the Telstra Dome on Friday last 5 September 2008. It was at the difficult time of 1: 15 am for an 11:30 am start but was determined by the Premier’s Transport Summit which was scheduled to start at 12 noon.

Success of Community Protest
A measure of the success of the protest was that it was covered by four TV stations Channels 2, 7, 9 and 10. Channel 3 may be doing a documentary on the opposition to road tunnels. The Herald Sun mentioned our protest but not the Age news. (There has been a letter published today see below.) We expect that it may feature in local papers in the coming week including The Melbourne Times, The Moonee Valley and Melbourne Leader papers. (See the www.savehollandpark.org.au website for TV footage and photos by Baudman. See also www.ycat.org.au, YCAT website (Yarra Campaign Against the Tunnel)

Also an indication that we had been noticed - Premier Brumby refused to face the protest and went into the Transport Summit by a side door via the car park. We were there to present him, with the resolution passed at the rally. See attached and below. See also our media release of 4 September 2008.

Background - Failure of Government to Consult
Here is some background. As you may know the Brumby government staged 8 transport forums organised by the Department of Transport, ostensibly to consult with the public on Victoria’s Transport Plan. Members of Parliament with inner metropolitan seats. Members of Parliament with inner Melbourne seats - namely Bronwyn Pike (Melbourne), Richard Wynne (Richmond) and Carlo Carli (Brunswick) belatedly and at extremely short notice held their own forums.

These forums were intended to provide community feedback for the Premier’s Transport Summit, which was originally scheduled for mid September. Although the MP’s declared that their forums were for local residents they were by invitation only and, significantly many community organisations, individuals and local residents were refused invitations and admission.

See Letter in the Age 8 September 2008: “Talking to all the ‘right’ people“

PREMIER John Brumby claims that we have been consulted over Sir Rod Eddington’s grand transport plan for Melbourne (Insight, 6/9). In the past month, eight transport forums - Clayton’s consultations - were held in country Victoria and outer suburbs, none in central Melbourne.

Then some Government MPs did their own thing and held forums. Carefully selected individuals and community groups were invited, but many were refused admission. ALP members did score invitations.

Forum facilitators ensured that controversial topics were not raised - such as Eddington’s $9 billion road tunnels through the inner city and elevated freeways through the western suburbs.

On Friday, the Premier evaded protesters waiting to present him with demands for sustainable public transport, slipping into his transport summit through the Telstra Dome car park. Not only is the Premier not properly consulting, but he also isn’t listening to the wider public on Melbourne’s transport fiascos.

Julianne Bell, convener, Royal Park Protection Group, Hawthorn

Organisers of Community Protest Opposing Road Tunnels
The Royal Park Protection Group (RPPG) and Yarra Campaign Against Tunnels (YCAT), in consultation with resident and environmental groups in the East and West of Melbourne facilitated the Community Protest for a wide range of groups and concerned individuals at the Premier’s Transport Summit. A special thanks to Freda Watkin of YCAT for her work on arranging the protest.

Agenda
After recognising the Wurundgeri as traditional owners of the land, I - acting as MC in Rod Quantock’s absence - called on the speakers. Colleen Hartland, Greens Upper House Member of Parliament for the Western Metropolitan Province, spoke on the threat to the western suburbs of Eddington’s option for an elevated roadway through the western suburbs. It appears that 800 residences in its path may well be compulsorily acquired. Residents are in a state of uncertainty given that no proper plans have been released. She said that a number of groups in addition to the Greens have been formed including “No Freeway 4 Footscray”.

Daniel Bowen, President of the Public Transport Users Association (PUT) spoke on the extraordinary demands on public transport and the need for funding. He also covered the news of the breaking scandal of the 8 Hitachi railway trains carriages, which had been been sold off cheap to a collector, but bought back for service and again decommissioned when it was found that they were rusted throughout.

John Cox spoke for YCAT on the threat to Yarra municipality of Eddington’s road tunnels and I spoke for the Royal Park Protection Group on the certain destruction of Royal Park if road tunnel construction proceeds. On an Open Mike session we had comments from organizations including the Carlton Residents Association; the Kensington Association; the Mt Alexander Road Campaign Group; and the West Sunshine Residents’ Group. Also attending were representatives from No Freeway 4 West Footscray group and Greens campaigning for No Freeway through Nillumbik.

Resolution to Premier
The meeting agreed unanimously to pass the draft resolution to the Premier. See attached and below. Protestors walked down the concourse with banners - and the media in attendance - and reassembled at Gate 9 where the Premier was expected to arrive at 12:30 pm. His staff insisted that the resolution be given to them to be passed onto the Premier. He evaded both the protest group and the media by entering the Transport Forum via the carpark. RPPG plans to distribute the resolution to members of Parliament.

• Resolution Addressed to the Premier 5 September 2008 (PDF)
• Royal Park Protection Group Inc.- Media Release 4th September 2008 - Protest Scheduled for Premier Brumby’s Transport Summit (PDF)

That this protest meeting, comprising community representatives from across Melbourne and facilitated by the Royal Park Protection Group Inc. (RPPG) and the Yarra Campaign against the tunnel (YCAT), resolve to request the Transport Summit and the State Government NOT to endorse Sir Rod Eddington’s proposals for road tunnels.

We demand that the nominal $9 billion allocated for the East West Link be invested instead in infrastructure for improved and expanded public transport and rail freight in Victoria. We ask that this include rapid transit rail to Doncaster along the Eastern Freeway.

Report from Protectors of Public Lands Victoria Inc. on Transport Summit
A representative of PPL VIC (a coalition of 80 or so Victoria wide environment, heritage and community groups) and attended the Transport Summit. We will circulate any reports we receive.

Signed: Julianne Bell, Convenor Royal Park Protection Group Inc.
jbell5ATbigpond.com Phone 0408 022 408

TV News Footage - Transport summit and train woes

Brumby promises big spending on transport

The Victorian government is promising massive investments in infrastructure to address transport problems.

The government is holding a summit to discuss road, rail and public transport networks, including fixing chronic overcrowding on public transport and whether a proposed East-West tunnel is needed in Melbourne.

It will feed into the governments new transport plan being released later this year.

The Premier John Brumby says they are long term challenges that will need big investment.

"These will be projects which are bigger than Eastlink, are bigger than channel deepening, these are big projects," he said.

Earlier today, anti-road tunnel protesters gathered outside the transport forum to voice their anger over plans for the East West tunnel recommended in the Rod Eddington report.

The Royal Park Protection Group and the Yarra Campaign Against Tunnels say the proposed link is a truck bypass route in disguise and will be a blight on local communities.

"In the process of tunnel construction over five to twelve years, inner city suburban streets will be destroyed; Royal Park and Holland Park in Kensington will be transformed into giant quarries," tunnel opponent Rod Quantock said.

"It's extraordinary that the Premier should be favouring building road tunnels at a time when the public is screaming for improved and expanded public transport."

Read the original article at abc.net.au/news

Plan 'may ease' Melbourne's train crush - theage.com.au

Melbourne's long-suffering train commuters could be given free late evening travel under plans to ease the squeeze on the rail network.

Victorian Premier John Brumby flagged the travel deal on Friday, saying it would capitalise on the success of the earlybird scheme, which provides free travel for passengers before 7am.

It came as more than 100 stakeholders met for the Victorian Transport Summit to give their final input into the government's transport plan, due later this year.

Mr Brumby said free travel for passengers travelling after 8pm would help spread out the commuter burden, with public transport patronage forecast to top half a billion people by 2010.

It would be modelled on the early bird scheme which was a "spectacular success", saving families up to $1,000 a year, he said.

"Is there a case for doing the same thing for, say, a post-8pm fare and shifting some of that peak which is presently there between 5pm and 8pm?

"These are all issues that we're looking at."

Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said the earlybird scheme was being replicated interstate and overseas.

A "late bird" version would be an interim measure as the government continues to thrash out a transport blueprint to alleviate road and rail congestion crippling Melbourne.

Transport expert Sir Rod Eddington has proposed an $18 million infrastructure splash, including an east-west road tunnel and a rail tunnel linking the western and south-eastern suburbs.

Mr Brumby told the summit all funding options were on the table as the government sought to meet the challenges of unprecedented population growth, climate change and rising petrol prices.

He said the plan would set the framework for the biggest transport investment in the state's history.

But opponents of the road tunnel are angry they were excluded from the talk fest.

They believe digging through Melbourne's inner suburbs is a "dinosaur" solution for tackling Melbourne's transport crisis in an age of climate change and will be disastrous for residents.

"Sustainable public transport, not road tunnels - that's our war cry," Royal Park Protection Group convener Julianne Bell said.

Mr Brumby denied community and residents groups had been locked out of the summit.

He said the government had received more than 2,000 public submissions and forums had been held across the state.

"Honestly, I can't think of any process over the last few years that our government has embarked upon where there has been more opportunity for people to put a point of view."

Read the original article at TheAge.com.au

Say NO to East-West Tunnels - Brumby's Transport Summit Protest

Say NO to East-West Tunnels
YES to Public Transport

Community Protest
Brumby’s Transport Summit
Friday, 5 September 2008, Telstra Dome

As you know the Brumby government has been staging transport forums organised by the Department of Transport, ostensibly to consult with the public on Victoria's Transport Plan.

Members of Parliament with inner metropolitan seats - namely Bronwyn Pike (Melbourne), Richard Wynne (Richmond) and Carlo Carli (Brunswick) have belatedly and at extremely short notice, held their own forums last week.

These forums, are intended to provide community feedback for the Premier's Transport Summit, which was scheduled for mid September. Although the MP's declared that their forums were for local residents they were by invitation only and, significantly many community organisations, individuals and local residents were refused admittance.

The Royal Park Protection Group (RPPG) and Yarra Campaign Against Tunnels (YCAT) are, in consultation, with resident and environmental groups in the East and West of Melbourne facilitating a Community Protest for Resident, Community, Environment Groups and concerned individuals at the Premier's Transport Summit.

Join us for a community protest

Venue: John Batman’s Datum (Red Flag Pole), Telstra Dome Plaza
Date: Friday, 5 September 2008
Assemble: 11.15 am for 11.30 Transport Summit Protest
Enter Plaza: From Southern Cross Station, internal lift or escalator to plaza
Escalators from Spencer Street, adjacent to Spencer/Bourke St. intersection
BYO Banners, Placards, Signs for No Road Tunnels for each community group plus………..
speakers, protest banners, resolution, delegation to the conference and much, much more!!!!

Contact
Royal Park Protection Group Inc. -
Julianne Bell 98184114 or 0408-022-408 jbell5@bigpond.com
Yarra Campaign Against the Tunnel (YCAT) -
Freda Watkin 0403-526-342 info@ycat.org.au
visit www.ycat.org.au

Click here for a flyer from YCAT