mooneeBUG

Moonee Valley Council Elections – 2016

You are all probably aware that the Moonee Valley City Council elections are in full swing. As a resident of Buckley Ward I thought I would contact all the Buckley Ward candidates to find out their position on Bicycle Infrastructure. Particularly the completion of the Mt. Alexander Rd bicycle lane and the Craigieburn Line Bicycle route. Below is my email to the candidates followed by their responses. I hope you all find this helpful when choosing a candidate. (the wording in my emails varied slightly depending on whether they were incumbents or not) At the time of publishing I had still not had any reply from Cr. Paul Giuliano or Rebecca Gauci Maurici. I am also contacting candidates from the other Wards and will publish the responses in the next few days.

My e-mail to the Candidates

Hi (Candidate),

I am a regular cyclist and Buckley Ward Resident. Over the past four years the council seems to have dropped the ball on bicycle related issues. The construction of the Mt. Alexander Road bicycle lane seems to vanished into the bureaucratic labyrinth that is VicRoads and the Cragieburn Line bicycle route? Who knows?

These were the two major developments in the Walking and Cycling Strategy 2012 that were initiated around the time of the 2012 Council Elections and neither has been completed. Now I don’t like to sound like a whinger, but I reckon projects like this should easily be completed within four years. As a result, I feel totally let down by the current group of councillors. So what I’d like to know is, if you are elected, are you prepared to commit to completing these two projects and other overdue cycling infrastructure in the next four years?

Regards,

Tim Goldby.

Buckley Ward Resident.

Buckley Ward Candidates’ Responses

Cr. Narelle Sharpe

Hi Timothy,

Thanks for you message. The cycling lane southbound on Mt Alexander Road has been endorsed by Council as supporting this initiative. Unfortunately Vic Roads is delaying this project as they have not shown their support for the initiative and have raised concerns about traffic flow and the operation of the traffic light sequence. Their claims seem rather far fetched, but from what I understand they have put it in the too hard basket.

I apologise that this initiative has not been made a reality as I understand many cyclists use Mt Alexander Road and need to feel safe riding along it. If elected I commit to following this matter up for you and achieving a resolution on the outstanding matters so the bike lane can be installed. Many projects in the Walking and Cycling Strategy have been completed or are in the process of completion. I do understand that this bike lane was an important part of the strategy.

Thanks very much for your email. Please don’t hesitate to contact me again with any further concerns or queries.

Regards,

Cr Narelle Sharpe

Cr. Jan Chantry

Dear tim thanks for your comments – yes if re elected very happy to relook at the money we have set aside for linking up bicycle routes – I believe the majority of current councillors did not have an appetite to spend big dollars on bike paths instead allocated towards football, soccer and baseball pavilions – this situation can change in the future regards cr Jan chantry
Sent from my iPhone

James Williams (Greens)

Hi Tim

Being a Greens member, I fully support cycling initiatives, in fact I’d prefer bike lanes over new toll roads any day, it just doesn’t make sense, public transport and bikes, a no brainer, (I’m a lapsed cyclist, need to get back into it again)

I don’t know the full details of the Walking and Cycling strategy but if I am elected, I am prepared to commit to completing these two projects and other overdue cycling infrastructure in the next four years.

If I am elected, can I ask you to stay in touch with me and assist me when required to deliver on this; I may need to contact you for info, your advice and input etc.

Thank You

James

Amanda Bajada

Hi Tim,

Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. As someone who loves cycling (I am an amateur) with my family most weekends I would love to connect via phone and discuss this matter with you in more detail. I mainly use the capital city trail from Moonee Ponds Creek entrance as if I am being honest hesitate cycling on road as I don’t trust drivers.

Do you have time to discuss via phone?

My number is 0401 474 324.

Look forward to hopefully connecting.

Best regards,

Amanda Bajada .

Hamish Jones

Hi Tim,

Cycling, walking and other integrated solutions are all vital parts of
planning and infrastructure – areas where Council has dropped the ball.

I am not anti car, but with more housing development we are seeing more
cars across Buckley Ward’s streets and something has to give.

I’d love to chat to you further about this if you are interested.
Cheers,

Hamish

Richard Lawrence

Hi Timothy

Thank you for the email.

As with all sporting/active activities within the Moonee Valley Council should I be elected I would consider the overall cost to the community and also the impact to the total community.

Essentially these issues will weigh up my mind as to the benefits the project has to the greater community as a whole and not just a specific pressure group.

Thank you for your interest in the MVCC

regards

Richard Lawrence

Home of the Moonee Valley Bicycle User Group