monster petition coming to an eastern municipality near you!

Next Tuesday sees the official launch of the Eastern Transport Coalition's Monster Petition at Monash University in Clayton. Monash is a great starting point for the petition because, despite the huge numbers of students and staff travelling to this campus every day, it is still without adequate public transport infrastructure – Monash is a metaphor for the neglect of the eastern region of Melbourne over many years.

The ETC Monster Petition is made of multiple rolls of recyclable synthetic paper, each 15 metres long with two signature columns. The petition is housed in a custom-made timber box to facilitate its transport over the next six months. The Monster Petition will travel around the region for the rest of this year, hosted for three weeks by each of the ETC’s seven member councils before being presented to the Victorian Parliament.

The ETC was bitterly disappointed that the Victorian Transport Plan did not include any major initiatives to address the significant gaps in the provision of and planning for public transport in our region.

The petition will seek commitments from the Government to modify the plan to include:
1. A full and public feasibility study for a heavy rail line to Rowville,
2. A full and public feasibility study for a heavy rail line to Doncaster,
3. A greater commitment to the extension of the Metro rail tunnel from Domain to Caulfield,
4. A full and public feasibility study for an increase in capacity on the Belgrave/Lilydale and Glen Waverly lines,
5. Improved facilities for passengers, particularly at interchanges located in central activity districts – Ringwood, Dandenong and Box Hill,
6. Fully accessible public transport facilities and vehicles

Successive governments have been promising major investment in public transport for the eastern region since 1969. Forty years on and our residents are still waiting. We’re putting the Government on notice that it’s time to end the neglect.

If you'd like to come down and put your name on the petition be at Monash at 11:00am on Tuesday 21st July on the lawn between Menzies Building and Campus Centre (Melways ref: X875, F9).

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Can't make it? Don't despair, the petition is wending its way through the eastern suburbs starting at the City of Monash, to Whitehorse, Dandenong, Manningham, Knox, Maroondah and finishing in Yarra Ranges in November/December.