Season’s Greetings to ALL
Be BOWLED OVER at the WATAG Festive BBQ Party
Blackburn Bowls Club, 65 Pakenham St Blackburn.
Monday 11th December 2017 from 6:00pm onwards until about 9:30pm.
Have Fun and be Active too, get into Action and try your hand at
Barefoot Bowls.
Click here for all the details, and how to reply to this invitation.
2017 Active Transport Survey
The survey closed on 30th November and the lucky winner of the bike – drawn on 1st December – is Jordan Esh of South Blackburn.
Congratulations Jordan!
Jordan is 18 and has just finished year 12 at Box Hill High School. He hopes to study engineering at university in 2018.
He is an Active Transport advocate and walks and rides regularly to school and the shops.
His new bike may even give him the incentive and the chance to ride to university.
For some preliminary survey results please click here.
Thanks to all for participating and making valuable comments.
Check back here again later in December when we hope to have a full report about the survey.
North East Link
The North East Link Project will link the M80 Ring Road from its current end, north of Greensborough, to the Eastern Freeway.
NELA asked for submissions and input from the general public and groups with an interest in how this project will impact on the community. They had prepared four different options for the road alignment, and were interested in people’s views on these options.
Since all options would impact on the Whitehorse area and its surrounds, WATAG Committee contacted NELA and arranged to provide input personally during November.
WATAG believes that since a new transport corridor is being provided, it must cater for all modes of transport, including Active Transport … not just motor traffic. Consequently WATAG did not nominate a route preference but instead preferred to make the following point strongly to NELA. WATAG believes that whichever route is chosen by the Government, resources must be allocated to ensure that walking and cycling infrastructure meets equivalent world-class standards for those transport modes, which match the world-class result expected for the roadways. Fund allocation % to meet the needs of the various groups expected to use the new transport corridor should reflect the % of the community using Active Transport modes, and not be weighted preferentially to motor traffic.
The Government announced at the end of November that Option A has been selected as the preferred route. This route goes south past Greensborough and under Banyule Flats and Bullen Rd via a tunnel to exit near the Eastern Freeway at Bulleen Rd. Refer to the route map at the NELA website for full details.
WATAG will continue to liaise with NELA to emphasise the need to provide for Active Transport so that everyone using this transport corridor is catered for equitably.
ITEANZ
The Institute of Traffic Engineers Australia and New Zealand has to be quite a significant organisation in a country where transport infrastructure is getting so much attention.
Their latest 2017 Newsletter has a President’s Column which raises a very valid point. Read the President’s thoughts below and you will get a sense of why WATAG is having discussions with NELA to ensure equity for Active Transport when new infrastructure is planned and delivered.
WATAG Committee members frequently attend local meetings of ITEANZ and find the subjects discussed to be positive in relation to the transport needs of the whole community.
RACV
When talking about significant organisations and transport infrastructure, the RACV must also come to mind.
The RACV President and Chairman Kevin White also had some very positive comments relating to Active transport in “From the President” in November 2017 RoyalAuto. See below. The highlighted comments are particularly relevant.
WATAG applauds the RACV for putting the needs of all transport modes on the table, and we have written to Mr White to express our support for his views.
WATAG is registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission ABN 63 938 570 447.
Being registered as a charity with the ACNC demonstrates WATAG’s commitment to transparency and good governance.
Whitehorse Active Transport Action Group Inc. 