samantha in the press - public transport

State budget: how Yarra Ranges fared
Yarra Ranges Weekly
by Melissa Cunningham
2 May 2012


State budget: how Maroondah fared
Maroondah Weekly
by Claire Thwaites
2 May 2012

bus review delivers little for yarra ranges

report from the roundtable – 28 sep

As part of this week’s council meeting I moved the following motion:
That Council write to the Minister for Public Transport, the Honourable Martin Pakula MP, with a copy to local state MPs, requesting that all bus services in the Shire of Yarra Ranges be immediately upgraded to the minimum standards outlined in Meeting Our Transport Challenges 2006 and request that immediate funding be allocated in conjunction with a definitive timeframe that will deliver the recommendations of the Yarra Ranges Bus Service Review as a priority.

I was moved to raise the issue of the Yarra Ranges Bus Service Review after reading a report from BusVic which indicated that only 5% of the recommendations from the Knox/Maroondah/Yarra Ranges Bus Service Review had been implemented. The lowest across Melbourne.

It was with a fair degree of frustration that I talked about this issue. We keep hearing from government that buses are the answer for the East, a message that has been repeated by the Minister himself and Brian Tee (Parliamentary Secretary for Transport). But clearly if buses are the answer, they need to be funded.

The 5% delivery of recommendations is woeful and continues to confirm the neglect for people in the east when it comes to public transport.

There has been no strategic transport planning for the East, it’s hard to know how government has come to the conclusion that only buses are the answer when the detail hasn’t been looked at in any meaningful way.

After a question from Greens MLC Greg Barber, the Minister for Public Transport, Martin Pakula, advised that it would cost $200million to deliver every bus service review recommendation across all of Melbourne. Given the billions spent on freeways and myki, $200million is a very small part of a very large budget. The current growth in funding at $5million per year only funds 15 buses shared between 31 municipalities, a drop in the ocean in terms of providing good bus services across Melbourne.

The motion also asks for all buses in Yarra Ranges to be upgraded to the minimum standard outlined in the 2006 Meeting Our Transport Challenges (at least an hourly service, till 9pm, 7 days a week). So many of our buses are below standard, making public transport travel difficult and building in a reliance on motor cars because we don’t have options.

I have to wonder why community expectations were raised in the Bus Service Reviews, held in four quarters of the shire, people inputting their time to tell their story and outline substantial changes to make buses more user friendly. If the community knew they were only going to get a 5% outcome I’m sure they wouldn’t have bothered.

samantha in the press - public transport

Monster moves in
Mail Newspapers
by Mara Pattison-Sowden
14 Sep 2010

alp continue the bus mantra for the east

Earlier this week I attended the Melbourne Transport Forum Public Transport Candidate’s forum in Box Hill. Brian Tee, ALP Parliamentary Secretary for Public Transport, Damian Magner, Greens Candidate for Eastern Metropolitan and Robert Clark, Liberal member for Box Hill spoke at the forum.

As chairperson of the Eastern Transport Coalition I asked the panel when the East of Melbourne would get a detailed transport plan? The Victorian Transport Plan doesn’t include any benefits for the one million people of the East of Melbourne and the reason it doesn’t is because Sir Rod Eddington’s study area never included East of Warrigal Road.

I asked when the people of the East could expect to get the detailed planning, analysis and community consultation to develop a comprehensive transport plan it deserved.

Buses are part of the answer in solving the East's public transport woes, but we need a more detailed look at all the options. Already the smartbuses are bursting at the seams with patronage.








It was disappointing to hear the ALP continue its mantra of buses are the answer for the East. Brian Tee answered by talking about the recent bus service reviews as the East’s comprehensive transport planning.

The bus reviews were in no way a comprehensive transport planning process, they didn’t consider other modes of transport such as rail, trams and cycling. They weren’t part of the equation. The people of the East want a detailed plan, not just an 18 stage bus service review where there is no clarity about when any improvements will be delivered.

On the night the Victorian Greens committed to a feasibility study for Rowville and Doncaster rail, in an earlier meeting I had with the Shadow Spokesperson for Public Transport, Terry Mulder, he committed the Victorian Liberals to a feasibility study for Rowville rail.

route 694 questioned in parliament

It was good to hear Greens MLC and spokesperson for Public Transport, Greg Barber, raise the issue of Route 694 in parliament this week.

Mr Barber asked a question without notice to the Minister for Public Transport, Martin Pakula.

Regular readers will know there’s been a question mark over the future of Route 694 as it has been recommended for removal in the Yarra Ranges Bus Review.

Mr Barber directly asked the Minister “Can the minister confirm that the recommendation of the bus review that route 694 be removed is not going to be followed?”

The Minister’s response, “ I am advised -- and I will advise Mr Barber further if this is not the case, but I imagine that he would not expect me to have encyclopaedic knowledge of every bus route in Melbourne -- and my advice to him and to the Parliament is that despite that recommendation there are no changes envisaged to bus route 694 at the current time.”

No changes envisaged...at the current time....What does this mean, not before the election? How long is “the current time” and can residents truly feel reassured?

Of concern is another part of the Minister’s response “Equally there are other recommendations in the bus reviews that are not now or in the future ultimately accepted by the department.” This leads to more questions, what other recommendations outlined in the bus review might not be “ultimately accepted by the department”?

The bus reviews set a lot of expectations in our community that we would get improved services throughout the shire, it’s up to us to make sure those expectations are fulfilled.

If you’d like to read the entire transcript of the question without notice click here.

route 694 – we need to be reassured

report from the roundtable – 13 jul

At the last council meeting I raised the issue of bus route 694. There are some inconsistencies between what our local MP is saying and what the recently released Yarra Ranges Bus Service review is recommending. Whilst a newspaper article reports the route is staying the bus review is clear in its intent that the route will be removed.

Route 694 - staying or going?

In order to get some clarity and assurances for our community I moved the following motion.

That council write to the Minister for Public Transport, Martin Pakula, to confirm

1) Whether the Yarra Ranges Bus Service Review recommendation to remove Route 694 is correct;
2) Should Route 694 be removed, clarify the timelines for the removal of the service;
3) Clarify what is meant in real time by short, medium and long term timeframes as referred to in the review.

In April 2010 the government released the findings of the Yarra Ranges Bus Service Review. The review was extensive and detailed changes to bus services throughout the Shire of Yarra Ranges. Most of the recommendations included enhancement of services and new services over the short, medium and long term throughout the Yarra Ranges Shire. However in one case the recommendation was to delete a service, being Route 694, Olinda to Belgrave via Sherbrooke Road.

I had further concerns around the timing of recommendations. The Implementation plan refers to a short timeframe for changes to route 694 (and route 688), although the implementation plan refers to a short timeframe, the implementation table indicates it is a medium need.

This is currently the only public transport option offered along Sherbrooke Road, from Kallista through to Ferny Creek, and its cancellation would disenfranchise residents along this road, residents travelling between the two townships, students who utilise the service to get to Sherbrooke Community School and tourists. Should the recommended changes be implemented per the bus service review, residents who want to travel from Belgrave to Olinda via bus would have to do so via Upper Ferntree Gully, adding many kilometres and minutes to the journey.

I moved the motion to seek council's endorsement to ask for clarification from the Minister for Transport, our community needs some surety about this one because what our local MP is saying is in direct conflict with what the bus review is saying.

Councillors supported the motion unanimously.

switching on sustainable street lights

report from the roundtable – jun 22

Back in March 2009, Council adopted the Carbon Management Program to support the implementation of our Resource Management Strategy (2007). This program seeks to implement some 17 top priority retrofit actions to reduce council's greenhouse gas emissions.

One of the most significant actions in the program is the replacement of street lighting with more sustainable lights. It plans to replace approx 6,670 street lights in Yarra Ranges using Twin 14W T5 lamps, which use approximately 65% less energy than the existing 80W mercury vapour (80W MV) street lights.

The changeover of street lights will make a huge difference to our corporate greenhouse gas emissions. Not only that it is good for our bottom line with the change to the more energy efficient lighting becoming cash flow positive by 2019.

I was pleased to move the motion to see the changeover of street lighting in Yarra Ranges.

Whilst talking to the motion I reminded councillors of the advocacy campaign we joined in February this year, to pressure the state government to support local government to make the transition to energy efficient street lighting.

If all municipalities in Victoria had energy efficient lighting it would save 1.5million tonnes of Co2 emissions.

Part of the campaign includes an online petition, I encourage you to sign up, the more who sign the more the issue will resonate with government. If you want to know more visit greenlightourstreets.com.au.

bus review, more work to do

Earlier this week, the Minister for Public Transport, Martin Pakula announced the results of the Yarra Ranges Bus Services review. The announcements are a a step in the right direction and it was good to see a some of the council’s recommendations for service improvements included, however, there is much more work to be done on further improvements to meet the needs of commuters living across the Shire.

No 695 extension to Knox City, very disappointing.

The council’s 24 page submission to the review called for much-needed improvements to peak hour frequencies, better connections with train services and more services operating until 9pm and on Sundays. Other improvements sought included the introduction of express services along the Warburton and Maroondah highway, increased coverage in rural areas and an expansion of the Telebus service.

The review has resulted in changes to five of the shire’s 26 bus routes and include:
Route 663 (Belgrave – Lilydale): Boost Weekday and Saturday service to operate till 9pm, and introduce Sunday services for the first time, meaning services will operate till 9pm, seven days a week.
Route 670 (Ringwood – Lilydale): Will be extended from Lilydale Station to Swinburne University. The frequency of services will be increased to approximately every 15 minutes at peak times.
Route 680 (Lilydale – Mooroolbark): The Lilydale to Swinburne University section of Route 680 will be replaced by Route 670
Route 688 (Croydon – Olinda): Will be extended to from Croydon to Montrose to replace and improve Route 698. This will be a combined service so passengers won’t need to change at Olinda and means additional weekday services and weekend and public holiday services for the first time.
Route 698 (Croydon – Montrose): Will be combined with Route 688, and will be known as Route 688.

It was good to see the changes to Route 688 which will see more frequent connections from Croydon and Upper Ferntree Gully railway stations to the hill top townships of Olinda, Kalorama and Sassafras, it has great potential to help boost tourism numbers to the region.

The improvements announced by the department will go some way to improving the quality of public transport in our municipality, however, if the government is serious about reducing car dependency and making it easier for people to access work, study, training, medical appointments and social and sporting activities then more extensive improvements are required.

Last year route 694 was recommended for deletion, not gone yet, but how safe is it?

The Shire of Yarra Ranges will continue to push for a range of other improvements aimed at encouraging people to use public transport – including the abolition of the country fare for commuters travelling beyond Woori Yallock. It was disappointing to see that this hasn’t been addressed by the Minister, it is a key issue raised through the review workshops and puts those community members beyond Woori Yallock at an ever greater transport disadvantage.

At the workshops in June, 2009 the consultants announced a range of recommendations covering 27 routes, including new routes, extended routes, deleted routes and more frequent and express services.

It is disappointing to see that some of the recommendations that were received as very positive by our community have not been included in the Minister’s announcements. Of particular disappointment is the consultant’s recommendation of the extension of route 695 to Knox City (currently running from Gembrook to Belgrave). Time and time again community members have spoken out about their concerns about the difficulty of getting to Knox City via our bus network, particularly parents concerned about their teenagers having to wait, sometimes for extensive periods at Upper Ferntree Gully Station. I know there will be a great deal of community dissatisfaction about this glaring omission.

While we haven’t got everything we asked for I am still pleased with the progress that has been made to date and the council will continue to advocate for more public transport improvements across the municipality.

clean up for fire season - free green waste tipping

Residents can now take advantage of free green waste tipping across the Shire of Yarra Ranges. From the 10th October through to the 8th November residents can take their green waste to Coldstream, Healesville, Wesburn and Lysterfield Transfer Stations for no charge.

I encourage residents to take up the offer to make their properties free of fire fuels. Now is the time we should all be making a concerted effort to remove bark, leaves, twigs and dead undergrowth around our properties.

Over the weekend Selby CFA, along with environmentalists and local residents, raked up fire fuels and then burnt them along the weedier edges of the Selby Park. This is a follow on from the work the brigade has done along Nation Road. This project is being considered as a pilot for other appropriate sites in the shire. It is a great example of agencies, environmentalists and residents working together to make communities more fire safe.

Like many Shire reserves, Selby Park contains some very significant flora and high conservation areas, these areas were carefully raked to remove fire fuels without compromising the environmental values of the site. Here myself, the CFA, Shire and local environmental expert, Darcy Duggan, discuss the level of fire fuel required to be cleared to achieve a reduced fire load without compromising the environment.

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It was a great example of agencies working together to achieve a positive outcome for our community.

clearing concerns top the talk

The new vegetation controls were the talk of the town at this month's Kallista market (on Saturday). Many residents expressed their concern to me about the new '10/30 right' vegetation controls. Their greatest concern that the environment they value and love now has the potential be decimated under the new 10/30 rights.

The one size fits all is not a good approach to vegetation management. The Shire of Yarra Ranges has enjoyed strong vegetation controls with protections enshrined in the Planning and Environment Act. That is up until last week when the Brumby government decided to amend the Upper Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges Regional Strategy Plan which saw an end to our vegetation controls which the community has fought long and hard for.

Cleaning up fine fire fuels is the best way to make your property safer and that includes regular gutter cleaning and sometimes roof sweeping too.

Now we find that our iconic landscapes are under threat from ill informed laws that will not protect our communities from the threat of bushfire.






This measure will not make all houses safer. The science is clear, trees around your house reduce both wind speed and ember attack - two of the most important factors in house survivability, and this is reiterated on the CFA website in information around fire preparedness. This was further reiterated in testimony by one of the CSIRO's bushfire experts, Justin Leonard to the Royal Commission hearings.

We are fortunate to live in a unique environment, some areas are of state significance, Yarra Ranges requires a far more sophisticated approach to vegetation management if we are protect our scenic values and biodiversity. Imagine if landowners actually applied the 10/30 rights, we would see wholesale change in our environment whilst exacerbating the risk of landslip and erosion.

A new group, Living with the bush, has been launched in response to the 10/30 rights. Living with the Bush says “Improving community safety in the face of increasing risk from bushfires is not a choice between human welfare and environmental integrity. This is a false choice and if pursued will result in giving people a false sense of security while ignoring other more important safety measures."

If you are one of the many residents concerned about the new 10/30 rights, and I know a lot of you are from the amount of conversations I have already had about this issue, I recommend you visit to the Living with the Bush website.

I'm told that their membership is nearing 200 already, this is clearly an issue of grave concern to the community.

where did route 694 go?

Is it right that the community has to wait till the end of the year to know the fate of route 694? NO. At the recent bus review this service was proposed to be deleted due to lack of patronage.

If we had a service that was frequent and well connected the patronage numbers would be much higher. This route provides a key orbital link between Belgrave and Olinda, to suggest that in the future Belgrave commuters travel to Olinda via Upper Ferntree Gully defies any logic and makes for a very cumbersome journey.

I read in the local papers that one girl cried to learn that her only access to public transport was to be taken away. These decisions have long lasting significant effects on our local community and their ability to fully participate in society.

What happens to those who have limited transport options? How do they get to school, to work, to medical appointments, to shops, to socialise? It is unacceptable to lose this service in the Dandenongs.

At a time when we should be encouraging take up of public transport this mooted ‘improvement’ seeks to turn even more people off using public transport.

Why should we be denied access to fast, frequent and well connected public transport? I want to see serious investment in our bus services, not juggling the books of the current budget which will never deliver significant improvements to services in the hills.

healesville rounds out bus review

Today saw the final bus service review workshop for Yarra Ranges. Since my last entry about the workshops in Upwey and Mooroolbark (see blog), further workshops have been held in Yarra Junction and Healesville. It has been an interesting process attending all four workshops across Yarra Ranges. The community and their needs are broad, however everyone wants to see greater frequency and span of hours for our bus services.

Changes proposed to route 697 include the service going through to Fountain Gate Shopping Centre - this change was well received by the community at the Upwey workshop.

The community of Yarra Junction had these things to say on the recommendations presented by the consultants, Booz & Co:
The span of hours and frequency of service must be increased on route 683 (the bus from Lilydale to Warburton/East Warburton). This service is seen as a good service for the community, however so popular at peak times that overcrowding was a significant issue.
The country fare continues to be one of the most critical issues to the community along the Upper Yarra corridor and it was mentioned many times as unfair and inequitable.
note: people travelling on this route have to pay the 'country' fare and also purchase a met ticket for the latter part of their journey to Lilydale.
There were concerns about the safety at the transport terminus at Lilydale.
There should be more low floor buses available.
The alternate route 683A along Clegg Road was seen as very positive change for those in the retirment village in Mt Evelyn.

The Healesville community had these things to say about the recommendations:
There needed to be an increase in frequency and span of operation on route 685 (Healesville to Lilydale) and route 663 (Lilydale to Monbulk to Belgrave) needed to operate 7 days a week.
The proposed 685 express was seen as a good idea, running from Lilydale to Healesville.
There were concerns about the loss of service to Chum Creek.
There was mention of the need to improve connections with rail services.
The issue of the country fare was also raised at this workshop (along with Yarra Junction).

The buses lined up on Belgrave Gembrook Road. It is proposed that route 693 terminates at Upper Ferntree Gully (instead of Belgrave) as the new extension to route 695 will run from Gembrook to Belgrave and through to Knox City. The community was very pleased with this recommendation.
Route 694 is proposed to be discontinued, this will see no bus service along Sherbrooke Road, this was met with a great degree of opposition from the community at the Upwey workshop.

Now that the workshops in Yarra Ranges have concluded the consultants will review and consider all the feedback from the community and draft a final report for the Department of Transport.

The recommendations from that report will be measured up against the transport priorities across Melbourne. I hope from this process that our community will see some improvements to local services. I am concerned that an expectation has been built that may never be delivered. We must make sure that our local MPs are reminded that this review is about improving local services which mustn't be traded off against other Melbourne priorities.

yarra ranges bus review - the next instalment

Today I attended two follow up workshops for the Yarra Ranges Bus Services review, one in Upwey, the other in Mooroolbark. These workshops enabled the consultants running the review (Booz & Co) to present Draft Network Improvements Options to the community for their consideration.

(for history on the Yarra Ranges Bus Services review visit this blog entry).

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The removal of the 694 service from Sherbrooke Road is unacceptable. Low patronage has been given as a reason, but I suspect if frequencies were increased there would be greater take up of this service. One resident reported to me she often has to wait up to one hour in Belgrave to connect with this service. There is a direct correlation between the patronage of a service and the frequency in which it runs. We want more services in the hills not less.

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At the Upwey workshop there were some excellent recommendations that were well accepted by community members, being:
The extension of the 695 route to Knox City (currently running Gembrook to Belgrave).
The extension of the 663 route so it would provide a direct service from Belgrave to Lilydale taking in Monbulk and the Swinburne campus in Lilydale.
A new service which runs from Boronia to Sassafras through to Olinda and onto Monbulk then Emerald, providing the much needed missing link between Monbulk and Olinda.
Changes to the 697 route that will see the service run through to Fountain Gate Shopping Centre rather than terminating in Belgrave South.

The change that met with disapproval and was of greatest disappoinment was the deletion of route 694 which currently runs from Belgrave to Olinda using Sherbrooke Road as its route from Monbulk Road to the Tourist Road. Later conversations I had with the consultants revealed they will re-look at this issue but I will be bringing it up with our local member as the loss of services in this area is of great concern.

More frequency and greater span of hours were seen as key issues in services across the Dandenongs.

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Changes presented at the Mooroolbark workshop were generally received as positive moves, particularly the change to route 683A which will run via Clegg Road past the retirement village located there and also the proposal to increase peak services between Yarra Glen and the Lilydale Station. Many other options also presented in this workshop were seen as positive moves.

The span of hours of operation and frequency of services continue to be an issue raised across the board at both workshops. There are still two workshops to go, one in Yarra Junction tomorrow (1pm at the Upper Yarra Family Centre), the other in Healesville on Monday 22nd June at 1pm (Memo Hall).

If you're concerned about the bus services in Yarra Ranges and want to have your say I encourage you to go along to one of the remaining workshops.

From this round of workshops, Booz & Co will then refine the network improvements and provide a final report for consideration by the Department of Transport. However the consultant did make it clear that service improvements for Yarra Ranges would be implemented based on metropolitan priorities, lets hope that the Yarra Ranges does not get lost in a sea of competing priorities across Melbourne.

young environmental protectors on tour

As part of our commitment to the environment and lightening our footprint the Shire runs the Learning for Sustainability (LfS) in schools throughout the Shire. LfS assists schools with sustainable initiatives both within the school grounds and in the broader community. LfS focuses on five key sustainability areas; Water, Energy, Materials, Biodiversity and Community.

This week the LfS Young Environmental Protectors (YEPs) went on tour to find out what other schools were doing as part of the LfS program. It’s a great opportunity for students across the region to learn what initiatives are happening in other schools, what worked, what didn’t work and what interesting discoveries were made along the way.

Part of the tour involved the children dressing up as ‘important people’ of the future - environmental scientists, I was pleased to kick off proceedings as the demonstration model!

I joined with the tour at Selby Primary School, where the grade 3 and 4s actively participate in the LfS program for the school. The SWAT team (Save Water and Trees) are passionate about what they do and have really embraced the first element of the five sustainability steps, Waste. Part of the information sharing was a competition between schools to see who could work out the ‘waste time line’.

Students from the Patch Primary, Macclesfield Primary, Mt Evelyn Primary, Mt Evelyn Christian School were given a range of waste materials from paper, various plastics, cotton, metals and glass and charged with the task of working out how long each material would take to break down along a time scale from 2 weeks to 10,000 years. Competition was fierce and proved to be challenging for students and teachers alike, but it was a great activity with much drama as the final results were revealed.

The next stop on the tour was the Patch Primary who have done wonderful things with their environmental education program. LfS is a great program and a good example of awareness raising at a local level, one Mum at Selby reported to me that she had stopped buying plastic wrap and gone to reusable containers because of her daughter’s participation in Selby’s LfS program. It’s a small step in the journey towards greater sustainability, but a step well worth taking.

on the buses

Last week saw the first round of the Yarra Ranges Bus Services Review workshops conclude. With three workshops across the shire it was a busy time to get to all of them. I’ve already reported on the Yarra Junction workshop (see blog).

After Yarra Junction the next workshop was held in Upwey and very well attended, with representatives from across the community as well as the three secondary schools in the region.

Discussions were far ranging and there was some dissent about the statistics presented to the group as they were averages across the three municipalities of Yarra Ranges, Knox and Maroondah. For those living beyond the Urban Growth Boundary in Yarra Ranges the statistics presented were not a true or accurate representation of the services available.

There was a great consistency in the range of problems highlighted by the group covering issues such as:
Information about timetables, routes and cost of tickets
Poor connections with other services and rail
Coverage of services
Funding of public transport
Frequency of bus services
Span of hours of operation
Links to key centres including Belgrave and Knox City
Fares and the lack of one way or ‘short trip’ ticketing
Lack of services on the weekend
Lack of DDA compliant bus stops
More direct and frequent services to Knox City, Monash and Swinburne
More buses throughout the hills including a service to connect Olinda and Monbulk
The lack of timetable information at bus stops
The use of smaller buses
The use of more environmentally friendly buses
Telebuses for Belgrave
Footpaths to bus stops
The lack of route information for tourists
Bike storage on buses and at train stations
Improved safety
Eftpos availability on buses
Lack of parking at railway stations
Allowing pets on board
Better services to cover schools

With all the information collated and recorded results of the key issues were presented to the group, top 5 came in as:
34% Frequency of services
17% Network linkages
15% Span of hours of operation
10% Coverage of bus services
8% Connections to other bus and rail services

The Healesville workshop was not as well attended with a very small number of community members there, I think this is a reflection of the recent bushfire turmoil in the town as Healesville is generally a very active and involved community.










The discussions here were very similar with top five issues coming out as:
35% Frequency of services
27% Span of hours of operation
23% Connections to other bus and rail services
13% Footpath/bus stop infrastructure
2% Real time travel information

The consistency of responses across the shire is not surprising, time and time again frequency, span and coverage issues are raised with me. I will continue to advocate for improvements for our community, the benefits of a fast, frequent well connected public transport system are immense.

bus review in yarra junction

Today I attended the Bus Review workshop in Yarra Junction. The workshop was well attended with a good mix of community members along the Warburton Highway corridor, many who are direct users of public transport as their only means of getting around.

The workshop went through a process of highlighting some of the key data around bus services in Yarra Ranges, Knox and Maroondah (this bus review covers off on all three municipalities). After that participants were asked to consider ‘things that work well’ with the bus services, next up was a focus on identifying problems with the bus services. Lastly participants were able to highlight their answers to bus service issues in the area.

Me, getting on board at the Belgrave Bus interchange, this bus is one of US Busline's new Euro 4 buses, more fuel efficient and less emissions intense and well fitted out to cater for all abilities access.

The list generated on the table I was sitting on was long and extensive and covered many different elements of bus travel including:
Storage of bikes on buses
Duplication of the Lilydale rail line
Coordinating bus services with school time tabling
Frequency and span of operation of bus route 683
Tourism, providing an adequate service to visitors to the area
Extension of Nightrider services
Better coordination with rail connections
New services, orbital (north/south) and express services
Improving bus stop infrastructure
Improving frequency of services across the board
Providing more funding for public transport services
Providing better early bird early bus services
Better promotion of how to use bus services
Abolition of the country fare
Use of fuel efficient vehicles

Results of the issues were presented to the group and the following came in as the top 5:
18% Network coverage including missing links and access for those located off the Warburton Highway
15% Span of hours of bus services
13% Abolition of the Country fare
11% Access for all abilities
8% Poor frequency of bus services

It was a very interesting session and it was no surprise to me that issues around frequency, span of hours and abolition of the country fare were high on people’s priorities. I look forward to attending the other two Bus Review sessions in Yarra Ranges this week, in Upwey (Tuesday 24/3) and Healesville (Thursday 26/3), and I’m certain that frequency and span of hours will be key issues in these regions too.

rescheduled bus review dates for yarra ranges

Yarra Ranges Bus Service Review

RESCHEDULED LOCAL AREA COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS

In an earlier blog entry I highlighted the upcoming bus service reviews for our community. Due to the recent bushfires, three of the workshops had to be postponed.

I’m pleased to say that dates have been rescheduled, details are:

Date: Monday 23rd March
Time: 1pm – 4pm
Suburb: Yarra Junction Community Hub

Date: Tuesday 24th March
Time: 1pm – 4pm
Suburb: Upwey Community Hall

Date: Thursday 26th March
Time: 1pm – 4pm
Suburb: Healesville Memorial Hall

The objective of the Bus Service Reviews is to prepare a comprehensive improvement plan for local bus services that best meets the needs of local communities. The review will involve the evaluation of current bus services and consideration of local needs and service planning issues.

If you can’t make it to one of the workshops but you’d like to have your say you can forward a written submission to the review. Send your submission to:
Knox/Maroondah/Yarra Ranges Bus Service Review
PO Box 2797
Melbourne VIC 3001

The closing date for written submissions is Friday 3rd April 2009.

If you want to see improvements to bus services in the Shire now is the time to have your say.

yarra ranges bus service review – your turn to say what you think

INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE – COMMUNITY WORKSHOP

The Department of Transport has engaged Booz & Company to undertake a review of bus services in the City of Knox, City of Maroondah and Shire of Yarra Ranges.

The objective of the review is to prepare a comprehensive improvement plan for local bus services that best meets the needs of local communities. The review will involve the evaluation of current bus services and consideration of local needs and service planning issues.

As part of an extensive consultation process, the review team is seeking input and feedback from you.

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Now is your chance to have your say about what needs to happen to make our bus services better.

Two rounds of workshops are proposed, the first one will concentrate on Local Issues, Needs and Opportunities.

Details of sessions across Yarra Ranges are:

Date: Monday 9th February
Time: 1pm – 4pm
Where: Yarra Junction Community Hub

Date: Monday 9th February
Time: 6.30pm – 9.30pm
Where: Mooroolbark CommunityCentre

Date: Wednesday 11th February
Time: 1pm – 4pm
Where: Upwey Community Hall

Date: Thursday 12th February
Time: 1pm – 4pm
Where: Healesville Memorial Hall

If you are interested in attending contact Sharon Rutherford (Booz & Company) on 03 9221 1952 or

sharon.rutherford@booz.com, by close of business Thursday 5th February 2009.

If you can’t attend a workshop but you’d like to highlight any particular needs or improvements for local bus services you can send a written submission.

Submissions should be sent to Yarra Ranges Bus Service Review, PO Box 2797, Melbourne VIC 3001. The closing date for submissions is 27 February 2009.

report from the roundtable – 28th Oct

A small agenda, but plenty of discussion at this week’s council meeting.

First up on the agenda is “reports from delegates” where councillors talk about items of interest.

I’ve had a busy two weeks so I confined my report to a handful of items so I didn’t take up too much time.

Yarra Ranges Bus Service Review
One of the successes of the Eastern Transport Coalition, of which I am the Yarra Ranges representative, was to lobby the government to bring forward the Bus Service Review in Yarra Ranges. The Bus Review enables residents to identify how bus services could be improved throughout Yarra Ranges. There are a total of 24 different bus routes included in the review for Yarra Ranges. If you want to have a say make sure you visit the DoT website. It includes information about the review and submission guidelines to help you out. I have been a strong advocate for public transport and will continue to be, so your voice is heard through the Bus Service Review process. The message that comes back to me time and time again from the community, is spread of hours, ease of use, safety, frequency of service and connection to the train system.

I also reported back on the Clean Up Blacksmith’s Way Day and the Kyeema Commemoration.

Tecoma Pre School Water Tank
In a previous post (see blog) you may recall that I funded a 3000 litre water tank for Tecoma Pre School. As a way of saying thank you the children at the kinder painted me a picture.

The painting represented what the children liked about living in Yarra Ranges and they said,


















“we like the sunny days, sometimes when it rains we can see rainbows over the mountain. The mountain (on the right hand side) has trees on it that touch the sky. In one tree is a possum, in the sky is a bird. We love coming to kinder (on the right) and want to go to school next year (on the left). The people are us, near the trees, the kinder and the school.”

It was a very touching gesture and beautiful way for the children to express their thanks.

“Late items through the chair”
This is an opportunity to raise an issue you want discussed at council that doesn’t appear on the agenda. For some time I have been campaigning to reduce the speed limits through our towns to 50kph. (blog 25 Aug, blog 1 Jun and blog 30 Apr)




















Back in July the Minister for Roads and Ports, Tim Pallas, gave a commitment to council that, in response to the Shire’s request to reduce speed limits, every town would be reviewed on a case by case basis. The review is to be carried out with Vic Roads, the Shire and Victoria Police.

I thought it was important to remind the Minister of his commitment and seek an urgent update as to where the reviews were at.

On the night Cr Heenan reported that Yarra Ranges Inspector Andrew Humberstone was supportive of the Shire’s request for reduced speed limits which was terrific news.

I will continue to fight for our 50 kph zones through our townships. The safety of our community is paramount. Many of our townships have small rural roads and challenging sight lines, others a tremendous amount of through traffic. We need to make our townships more accessible to pedestrians, our community shouldn’t have to run the gauntlet every time they want to cross a road.

Did you know that all members of the public are welcome to attend any council meeting, if you’d like to know more contact me on s.dunn@yarraranges.vic.gov.au