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