Victorian government releases its noise policy

The Victorian government's long-awaited noise policy has finally been released—download it from the Department of Transport website.

It's great to have something in place for future rail projects; no word yet how it will be applied to the Regional Rail Link project. We hope the government decides to look after Footscray.

Fordham Reserve reinstatement, meeting & working group

The Regional Rail Link surveyed local residents about their hopes for Fordham Reserve. The results are in!

We are concerned about the poor state of the footpath, the lack of shade over the playground, rubbish and lack of waste bins, and night-time security. We want improvements to the footpaths, a barbecue area and shelter, additional seating or gathering spaces, and retaining the open space - though perhaps with additional plantings to screen the railway corridor. (NB the survey results do not seem to say much about our thoughts regarding the actual fence or barrier between the park and the railway corridor).

There's a RRL meeting planned for Wednesday 24 April (tomorrow!) at he the Angliss Neighbourhood House, 6.30-8pm. They'll display the survey results and provide an opportunity for discussion.

The RRL wants to establish a small working group to further develop plans for Fordham Reserve. If you're interested in being a part of this group, email info@rrlfdp.com.au or call the Community Information Line on 1800 107 925.

In the news

There's been a bit of media coverage about the removal of our noticeboard at Fordham Reserve, in the Star (Noticeboard removed without notice) and the Maribyrnong Weekly (Regional Rail Link: Footscray residents back to the drawing board).

RRL project spokesmen Tim Holmes has gone on the record as saying the RRL was "open" to the idea of a community noticeboard at Fordham Reserve but that "actual permission was neither granted or revoked".

Funny, we thought the park belonged to Footscray, not the RRL. We're certainly the ones with long-term interest in the park's appearance and amenity. And we still don't really understand why they felt the need to remove it, especially as they think the idea of a community noticeboard is "great".

RRL removes community notice board

We recently put up a notice board on the public art wall at Fordham Reserve, so that we could put up information about issues affecting the community.

It seemed like a good idea to us—sometimes people miss out on one of the official RRL notices, and lots of people use the park who aren't necessarily in the RRL "catchment" area. We wanted to make sure everyone who uses the park and the area knew about issues affecting its future.

But after only a few days the RRL had removed the noticeboard. We really can't fathom why—particularly as the art wall is supposed to be for "everyone"...

Here's our media release (pdf) about it!

There's also been a bit of news coverage regarding our last media release, about the lack of consultation about traffic changes—in the Star (Consult on road changes: council and Truck lanes rage), the Leader (Truck worry in Footscray following Regional Rail Link works) and the Maribyrnong Weekly (Trucking hell: Regional Rail Link brings Moore pain to Footscray residents).

Our media release seems to have provoked some attention!

The Maribyrnong Weekly ran a story about our concerns about the changes to Footscray roads - changes that appear to have been pushed through by the Regional Rail Link, VicRoads and Council without any community consultation about how this would affect access for residents.

We've been contacted by Council since, who have said "Maribyrnong City Council does not support new changes to major arterial roads without community consultation by the State Government...Council has relayed residents’ issues and concerns in relation to the traffic, pedestrian and parking impacts from this project to the RRL Project Team." They've also issued this press release (pdf), calling for community consultation and for the government to revisit the shelved Truck Action Plan, which is great.

We'll be attending various of the Council's planning meetings next week to make sure our concerns are part of their four year plan. Have your say, too.

Local residents also received a letter from the RRL Alliance General Manager Steve Cornish (pdf), which states that the road changes have "...not been made to improve conditions for trucks using this intersection", citing safety improvements. And further, that "these changes have been made in consultation with Maribyrnong City Council and VicRoads".

Safety concerns are important of course, and pretty much trump everything else (except when held by residents, it seems). But where were the options? Where was the discussion of community impact? And we're not sure why these safety issues couldn't have been addressed in a way that also took into account local traffic needs, and pedestrian and bike access. We've always been told there was no scope to improve pedestrian and bike access over the Hopkins Street bridge as part of the RRL works - why not? When traffic access was and is always clearly on the agenda?

The RRL letter helpfully goes on to say that "When work is complete, the existing [dangerous and unsatisfactory] pedestrian and cyclist conditions will be fully restored at these intersections [hurrah!]. As part of this section of the project, improvements are being made to pedestrian and cycling access including wide overpasses and ramps at West Footscray and Sunshine railway stations, changes to the West Footscray precinct, and new pedestrian operated signals at Ashley Street in Tottenham to connect the existing bike path."

Well, that's great for West Footscray, Sunshine and Tottenham - but we're unlikely to go quite that far to cross a road to get to our school or station...

Council directions 2013-2017: have your say

Maribyrnong City Council is currently working on its next four year plan - in other words, what the Council will do between now and 2017.

So if you've ever wanted to the Council to improve pedestrian and bike acces, consult better about roads, express a vision regarding the development of Footscray or just to plant some trees, this is your chance to make it happen. Council is running three workshop sessions (see below); if you can't make one of these you can write to them and/or complete their online survey instead. 

Spread the word!

Workshops

• Tuesday 12 February, 9:30-12:30, Maribyrnong Community Centre, 9 Randall Street Maribyrnong
• Thursday 14 February 1:00-4:00pm, Maidstone Community Centre, 21 Yardley Street Maidstone
• Thursday 14 February 6:00-9:00pm, Maribyrnong City Council Offices, Cnr Hyde and Napier Streets Footscray

More info from Maribyrnong Council

Media Release: road changes & RRL consultation

We've prepared a media release about the proposed road changes to Hopkins Street. These changes are being made as part of the works to be done on the Hopkins Street bridge. And we shouldn't really say "proposed", they seem to be a done deal—despite no consultation with Footscray residents about how they would affect us. And, if the RRL can be used to push through changes to roads, why couldn't it be used as an opportunity to make changes that would benefit pedestrians and cyclists, like better crossings, designated bike lanes and wider footpaths? It appears that the government is not really interested in the long-term liveability of Footscray.

For interest: accident statistics for the Moore/Hopkins Street intersection

Flattened pedestrian crossing sign at the Moore/Hopkins Street intersection

RRL issues 2013: parks and pedestrians

It's been a while since we last posted. The Regional Rail Link works have started in earnest and we've all just been trying to get on with things, for the most part.

We're still keeping a watchful eye on issues related to the RRL, though—we asked what noise mitigation strategies could be applied to the RRL works, to buffer our homes and our community from increased train noise. The State government is currently developing a noise policy for rail projects, similar to what exists for road construction projects. We hope to hear news about that in the next month or two.

We're also worried about the effect of the RRL on Fordham Reserve—we wrote to both the Minister of Planning and Transport, RRL CEO, Council and others before Christmas about a complete lack of consultation (read more here). This is a popular community park and playground, and we're hoping the RRL will leave the park in good order—with a properly designed park-rail boundary rather than just a bit of wire and cement. We'd also like to see the park expanded into the land acquired by the RRL, up to Hopkins Street.

Access issues are also on our minds. There are going to be some significant changes to Hopkins Street, for example, that we feel don't reflect the needs of the community—for example, you'll no longer be able to turn right onto Cowper Street from Hopkins. We want to see better access between east Footscray and the station, and safe paths for pedestrians and cyclists to travel to the station, school and work.

We thought we should also rename this blog, since Railway Place was saved, and to better reflect ongoing community issues relating to the changes in Footscray.

More soon!

Track words to widen the rail corridor adjacent to Fordham Reserve, January 2013