INSIDE

   Ross Hartnell obituary
   Unanswered questions
  CLG soldiers on
   What next for Scoresby?
   Reynolds Road widening
   EV Transport Forum
   Whitehorse Festival
 

 
 
 William Ross Hartnell
  26.4.1945 – 19.9.2000
 

KMFA has been deeply saddened by the death of former President, Ross Hartnell, in September. Ross was a good friend to several members, and inspired all who knew him. The following is an extract from his obituary used in the service at Collins Street Baptist Church, and reprinted in The Age.
    “Ross’s love of the natural environment led him to fight tirelessly for the preservation of the Mullum Mullum Creek valley in the face of the Eastern Freeway extension in Mitcham. An active member of the Hillcrest Association, he became President of the Koonung-Mullum Forestway Association from 1988 to 1992. He instigated the planting of thousands of trees to ward off the advancing freeway and negotiated with local and state government to preserve virgin bushland in the area.”
    Ross compiled two major reports on behalf of KMFA in 1990 and 1991: Imagine the Future: Submission to the Eastern Arterial Extension and Ringwood Bypass Panel of Review, and Let’s Make the Future: Submission to the Study of Eastern Corridor Transport Options. Both documents are as relevant today as they were ten years ago, and were consulted extensively in the preparation of KMFA’s submission to DoI earlier this year.
    At the launch of the 5th Mullum Mullum Festival on 15 October, Howard Tankey, who succeeded Ross as President, paid an emotional tribute to a man whose loves also included geography, education, music, and the history of the Welsh in Australia. Friends then planted a small native garden at Yarran Dheran  in his memory.
    We extend our sympathy to his family and many friends.
 

Questions to be answered

 
 Deep Creek Road. The caption “Tunnels to Save Valley” has misled many people into thinking that the tunnels will protect all of the Mullum Mullum Creek. However, this is not so. Beyond the eastern portals below Chaim Court and through to Ringwood almost all vegetation within the reservation will be destroyed by a surface freeway up to eight lanes wide: “The Green Mile” meets “The Deep Creek Chainsaw Massacre”.  We cannot allow this to happen.
     On 3 July KMFA lodged an objection with Whitehorse Council to VicRoads’ applica-tion for vegetation removal associated with the Deep Creek Road bridge works, and subsequently attended a community forum conducted by Cr. Kaele Way. In a surprise move, VicRoads withdrew their application on 24 August. We are awaiting further developments on this issue.
Mullum Mullum Coalition. In the meantime 12 conservation groups from the Ringwood area have joined together to oppose the freeway’s destruction of their local environment. KMFA will be offering assistance in any way we can.
Warnes Road anger. A community consultation meeting on 13 July turned hostile when residents discovered that VicRoads had failed to disclose a new service road that was being planned to carry southbound vehicles leaving the Schwerkolt Cottage carpark once the freeway opened. This would have a significant impact on homes in Warnes Road.
Vent Stacks. The two tunnels under the valley have been allocated one vent stack each at a cost of $9 million to expel vehicle emissions. How high will these stacks need to be to disperse pollution above the valley’s steep terrain? At least 46 metres, similar to the Domain Tunnel? Where will the stacks be located? How will the emissions affect wildlife in the valley? What visual impact will they have on the serenity of the valley? Will vegetation need to be cleared around the sites and new access roads built to them? How noisy will the vent stack engines be?
Park Road On/Off Ramps. There has already been much debate on the desirability or otherwise of building on/off ramps on the west side of Park Road. This will intensify over the next few years of staged construction, with the argument sure to arise that the freeway from Park Road could be opened to traffic before the tunnels are completed. Against this, many Park Orchards residents fear a deluge of through traffic from the north and point to the inability of Park Road to cope with high traffic volumes. How long will residents be kept in the dark on this issue?
A Traffic Sandwich. Impatient motorists on the Eastern Freeway had better take a breather, as the extension is not expected to open until 2005.  While they are stuck in traffic, they might like to ponder whether the  Government  intends to allow the present  level of congestion on Spring-vale Road to remain static for five years—a pretty feeble solution to the problem, in our view. They might also observe that —as reported in the last valley watch—most traffic is heading north-south in any case, so that even after 2005 the problems at Springvale Road are likely to remain the same. Grade separation at the Maroondah Highway and improved public transport could have achieved the same result for a fraction of the cost in a fraction of the time.
Government should take a “Broader” view. At the same time as $326 million is allocated to a 5 km suburban freeway, the State Resources and Engergy Minister, Candy Broad, and the Department of Energy have released the Victorian Greenhouse Strategy  (www.greenhouse. vic.gov.au). Among other things, the document lists the following areas as demanding urgent immediate attention:
? assessment of all road projects
? improved public transport
?promotion of cycling and
   walking
?overhaul of existing transport
   management
? promotion of cleaner fuels
? improved efficiency and capa-
   bility of the rail freight system.
We will be urging the Transport Minister to take more account of his foward-thinking colleague than the advice of insatiable road lobbyists like the RACV whose new Roads to the Future Campaign advocates a further $3 billion on urban freeways.
 
 
CLG to soldier on

 
Following the announcement of the 1.5 km tunnel, it appears that the Eastern Freeway Community Liason Group will continue to function, at least in the short-term planning phase.  KMFA member Barry Watson, one of three community reps on the CLG, reports that it is still a constant battle to get Vicroads to address environmental issues satisfactorily and more importantly, the Government.

Air Quality
It was recently revealed that VicRoads’ air quality monitoring done at Elgar Park was done using a device that undermeasures pollution on high pollution days. This device, called TEOM, is not State Environmental Protection Policy approved: SEPP is based on using a High Volume Sampler. The result is that Mr Batchelor has wrongly told the community that there are no fears of air quality breaching SEPP in the Koonung Valley.
    Barry Watson has asked the CLG who then becomes responsible for a death if an asthmatic person chooses to live in the Koonung Valley thinking the air is clean. Mr Batchelor,to date, refuses to answer correspondence about this issue. There are other air quality issues that Barry and Bob Wright are also questioning and pursuing through the CLG.

Environment Effects Statement
It appears that neither the Government, VicRoads, Department of Infrastructure, local councils, or the EPA are interested in an updated EES. This is despite an EES being a requirement of Labor Party Policy and Tony Robinson, ALP member for Mitcham, saying there would be one.

Nightime Noise
EPA have requested that VicRoads produce a best practice nightime noise policyfor the Mullum section of freeway, to protect residents trying to sleep. VicRoads, however, are refusing to comply and Barry continues to push for a better result, particuarly as the Bracks Government now supports the Scoresby Freeway.
   Barry thinks that Mr Batchelor should have been competing in the Olympics. He would have performed well in the gymnastics floor routine featuring his backflips with a twist.

 
What next for Scoresby?

Predictably, the dust had barely settled after the Mullum Tunnel launch before the road lobby began a renewed push for the Scoresby Freeway. The Austra-lian Council for Infrastructure Development (representing “major private investors in infrastructure”) is urging the Federal Government to help fund the road and the State Government to review its opposition to a toll road funded  by private investment. (Age, 16/10)

Knox Public Transport Forum
On 24 August a well-attended Public Transport Forum was held by Knox City Council. The usual suspects from KMFA were present to show support for the Knox Environment Society, the PTUA, train and bus companies, and residents in the Scoresby corridor.
    Anthony Brown, public transport advocate for Environment Victoria, and now  Knox  Environment Society, summed up the situation well in the following speech:
    “This year is the 20th anniversary of the Knox City council first requesting the extension of the tram line to Ferntree Gully and the extension of the rail line to Rowville. So it is great to see that even after 20 years and little progress, interest in public transport is still high.
   It is interesting that as we experience the highest fuel prices ever the traffic jams on our major roads have not reduced at all. The world’s supply of oil is only expected to last another 30 years and yet roads are being built at an alarming rate. I don’t believe serious thought has been given to the future when petrol simply doesn’t exist. Instead of investing in the future by constructing well designed and integrated public transport networks we waste billions of dollars on roads which quickly become overcrowded.
    You may have seen in the news over the preceding weeks, reports of the polar ice caps shrinking … global warming is here. Yet instead of implementing the most efficient ways of transporting people—public transport—we are actively engaged in designing and building more roads.
    Australia boasts the highest extinction rate of any continent or country on earth. The majority of this problem is due to habitat destruction. Unfortunately we clear significant tracts of land and allocate it to roads. Land which could possibly be better used for its biological significance if there were the underlying transport infrastructure to support this. And  yet again unfortunately we are in a  position where the infrastructure, being public transport, does not exist.
    I could also tell you about the latest health statistics regarding the number of people dying each year which are attributed to road use and the pollution caused by it. It would probably scare you.
    BUT . . . we have been talking about these issues for 20 years now. We have been requesting the same infrastructure improvements and little has eventuated. We now find ourselves at a technological and geographical crossroad where we must either begin planning for the future or find ourselves seriously behind the eight ball. Bandaid solutions will not suffice any more.
    I would like to thank Knox council for making the community bus available for tonight. However I think it highlights a very important point. There has been a lot of discussion about major capitol projects such as tram and train line extentions but when it comes down to it, the basic services that we require now and have the infrastructure for still do not exist. It seems a shame that the council would need to organise a special bus for people to access community facilities, such as these, out of hours. But unfortunately this is a grim reality in Knox.
        A lot of work has obviously gone into the Knox public transport strategy. It is obvious that someone out this way actually believes in public transport and can recognise how urgently it is required. It is in the face of this that I fail to under-stand how the State Government is willing to allocate $80 million immediately to begin construction of the first section of the  Scoresby freeway and yet not a single cent has been allocated to public transport infrastructure in Knox. If it weren’t such a serious issue it would be funny. Twenty years, endless discussions and public transport is overlooked again.
    Why? Why is it that public transport is continually overlooked in the Eastern suburbs. Primarily the funding for these types of projects comes from the state. I don’t believe the state government fully appreciate how serious the issue is out here. If we cannot secure the improvements we need now, we may never see them. Now is the time for everyone collectively to advocate for public transport in Knox. Every individual, every councilor, every business who consider public transport to be a serious issue must convey that message to the state government for consideration. It is only when they acknowledge the issue that they will act in our best interest.”
 
 
Reynolds Road — Mullum under threat
 
An application by VicRoads to duplicate Reynolds Road between Anderson’s Creek Road and Springvale Road will be considered by Manningham Council on 31 October.
    Under this proposal, approximately 300 trees will be removed together with a 15 to 25 metre-wide band of vegetation  comprising Valley Grassy Forest, described by consultants Botanicus as “an extremely rare and depleted ecological vegetation class within Victoria . . .  recognised as endangered”.
    VicRoads’ traffic modelling, which is used to justify the roadwork, assumes the construction of the Eastern Freeway extension, the Scoresby Freeway, duplication of Springvale Road between Reynolds Road and Doncaster Road, and “an upgraded northern route east of Springvale Road” which would cross Mullum Creek opposite Currawong Bush Park, further fragmenting the wildlife corridor. There is no assumption of improved public transport or changes in driver behaviour.
    In Victoria, approximately 160,000 km of roadsides, totalling about half a million hectares, contain about 25% of all plant species listed as rare or endangered under the State’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee. While this road widening falls within Manningham’s Arterial Road Strategy, we hope the Council will vote in favour of protecting its precious diversity and natural heritage, and against a proposal which will open the floodgates to further massive expansion of the road network in the outer east.
 

 
TICKET TO  RIDE
Getting to Sustainable Transport Solutions

Conference organised by Environment Victoria, Council on the Ageing, PTUA, VCOSS, Victorian
Local Governance Association. Sponsored by RMIT School of Social Science & Planning.
 transport solutions

 Speakers include Kenneth Davidson, Dr Michael Buxton, Dr Paul Mees, Prof. Brian Costar, Bronwen Machin,
plus others to be confirmed.

Sunday 29 October

Storey Hall, RMIT, Swanston Street.

Registration costs: $25 waged, $15 unwaged (including lunch) or by arrangement.

RSVP 9654 0333 or enquiries 9320 5409.
 
The conference will develop a TRANSPORT STATEMENT OF DEMAND
 

Whitehorse Festival

Sunday 29 October 9 am – 4 pm
Whitehorse Civic Centre.

This event unfortunately falls on the same day as the Transport Conference above. KMFA again has a stall but is very short of helpers this year. If you can spare an hour to talk to people about why you oppose the freeway or hand out information, or if you have goods suitable for sale, please phone or fax Heather Baker on 9723 1511.

Hillcrest Association.

Rhe next Working Bee will also be on Sunday 29 October! And the last activity for the year on Sunday 26 November.
    Enquiries Brenda Rutherford on 9874 4258.

Did you know?

More people now die in Melbourne each year from air pollution than from road accidents.

Road vehicles in Australia are responsible for air pollution costs of over $1 billion a year and noise pollution costs of nearly $500 million a year.

Each ½ km. of road produces the same amount of nitrous dioxide that a factory would need a permit to produce.