Save Holland Park - The potential destruction of J J Holland Park Kensington by the Eddington East-West tunnel
Ranked #1,172 in Local, #117,337 overall
So what's all this about?
The Victorian State Government has recently received a report from Sir Rod Eddington, outlining many recommendations to alleviate Melbourne's traffic issues.
One of the most contentious of these, is the construction of the East-West car tunnel. This will link the Eastern Freeway with the Tullamarine Freeway (northbound only) and then move beyond this, to one of a number of potential areas around the Footscray area.
Is building more roads a way to solve traffic? Of if you build them, will more cars come?
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We've recently learned that yoursay@dot.vic.gov.au is an email address where you can have a say in the future transport strategies for Victoria, to feed into the report which the Premier will be delivering later this year.
Send in an in email (we'd suggest a separate one for each separate suggestion, so they can go to the appropriate person within the Department of Transport). You may also want to cc your local member or relevant minister.
Oh... and encourage your friends, family, neighbours and workmates to send something in as well!
-----------------
I routinely add extra links and pix below, to relevant websites or news articles, so check back often.
One of the most contentious of these, is the construction of the East-West car tunnel. This will link the Eastern Freeway with the Tullamarine Freeway (northbound only) and then move beyond this, to one of a number of potential areas around the Footscray area.
Is building more roads a way to solve traffic? Of if you build them, will more cars come?
-----------
We've recently learned that yoursay@dot.vic.gov.au is an email address where you can have a say in the future transport strategies for Victoria, to feed into the report which the Premier will be delivering later this year.
Send in an in email (we'd suggest a separate one for each separate suggestion, so they can go to the appropriate person within the Department of Transport). You may also want to cc your local member or relevant minister.
Oh... and encourage your friends, family, neighbours and workmates to send something in as well!
-----------------
I routinely add extra links and pix below, to relevant websites or news articles, so check back often.
Kensington Flemington Junior Sports Club
Their Save Holland Park video
City of Melbourne vote against East-West Tunnel
From ABC News
Defend Kensington
Over 500 residents and friends of Kensington vow to fight against the tunnel, and to save Holland Park
curated content from Flickr
Defend Kensington on the TV News
Ch 2, 9 and some of 7 until my battery ran out
Get your hands off our park
Save Holland Park
I thought this might be effective for when I can't speak to people in person
Holland Park - a free space (not a free-way)
curated content from Flickr
Just a couple of signs around Kensington
curated content from Flickr
Poll
Loading poll. Please Wait...
So... what about this Eddington Report
My personal take on the issues that Melbourne has before it, with regard to transport
"Building more roads to solve traffic is akin to loosening your belt to solve obesity".I'd like to claim it as mine, but it isn't. It's from a contributor to a forum on TheAge.com.au responding to an article on the Eddington Report. But, it does summarise my feelings on Melbourne's traffic.
On a fundamental basis, I fail to see how building more roads can reduce traffic. It stands to reason that if you build roads, then people will be more likely to use them. And that is one of Melbourne's blessing/curses. Our roads are already too good, and too plentiful. Add to that the urban sprawl, with a (largely) centralised employment region and you force people into commuting.
For too many years, Melbourne's non-car transport (so... public transport and other options) have been ignored, or neglected. This has to turn around. It WILL be a long, hard, sell - but Melburnians need to realise that the car is not a right... it's a luxury. And living close to where you work is a much better option to commuting.
This also means that successive State Governments need to encourage growth of both blue and white collar industial regions in areas other than central. Blue collar has 'hubs' in the SE, the N and the W, but white-collar is still mainly in, or close to, the CBD. So... in the meantime, everyone will try to commute and be angry. Angry because the trains are full. Angry because the roads are full.
As I said, it's a long, hard, sell.
In the future, I hope that cars are used sparingly. Roads are kept for truck and public-transport usage. And people use trains, buses, trams and BICYCLES!
So, the parts of the Eddington Report that suggest funding train infrastructure (including the big Footscray-Hospitals-University-St Kilda Rd-Domain-Caulfield train tunnel), I fully support. Even if this meant doubling the train lines that run outside our house, I'd still support it.
I also support the bicycle lane section. (And applaud the fact that it's in there in the first place). I am somewhat concerned that it only mentions lanes and paths - segregated from traffic - with no mention of education and rights AND expectations of bicycle riders for all of the other areas where on-road bike lanes, or off-road bike paths don't exist (ie: most places). But if more people rode, less cars would choke our roads. Pretty simple arithmetic really.
So yeah - I don't think my vision is too utopian or fantastic. And, with the price of an oil barrel rising, it may come about faster than Sir Rod actually thinks.
Reader Feedback
Have your say. What do you think about the tunnel... or the park... or the potential of a freeway running through it?
Lensmaster
Jenny wrote
I live in Kensington Banks (near to the JJ Holland Park) and are appalled that the govt is even contemplating this tunnel. In an age of carbon emissions and spiralling petrol prices, why must we encourage more car usage. Mr Brumby get your act together and FIX THE RAIL SYSTEMS. This will encourage less car usage and in turn lessen the cars on the roads. I'm with all my neighbours and will not go down without a fight. We all pay a ton of tax in this country and deserve to have a say on what it is spent on. Leave a legacy for our children and leave our beautiful parklands and trees alone!!!!!
Posted September 28, 2008
Lensmaster
Michael wrote
I am a big fan of the SimCity simulation computer games. In these games you build a city from scratch, placing in roads, houses, schools, parks, housing for industry, commercial and residential. There are also items like *parks* and playgrounds etc. If you build these parks and then take them away (in the game) the residents of your city will go on protest and strike. The same is true in the *real world*. Take peoples parks away in an already concrete and steel dominated environment and they will be moved to stand up for their parks and green spaces.
Posted May 27, 2008
Lensmaster
Whitney Mallia wrote
This Council and state govt is for the yuppies and business types.
Firstly let me say my kids use holland park daily and in particular The Venny.
We live on the housing estate in altona st.
I understand that only 5 similar venues (free drop in and play) exist in Australia and all are funded by their councils except the Venny. For many years the staff have helped me and my family and only recently did I realise they had no mcc backing ! they do so much for free. For 30 years I think. the Venny has battled clown hall. And still no support from them.
The mcc is rotten to the core. We must fight to save holland park. Fight to stop this hole ! Fight to stop this in our community. Next to our childcare, our rec and pool our Venny our sports and picnics.
Vote mcc out ! Vote pike out and tell Tanner he will lose too !!!
Its a Park for Christ sakes.
A park for kids, young folk, families and people.
Posted May 24, 2008
baudman wrote...
Do you mean Smithfield Rd?
I do too - and it would be great if it worked that way. The unfortunate thing is, however, that when roads like this are tolled, it means a large number of people avoid using them to dodge paying the toll. Citylink actually INCREASED traffic through Kensington and surrounding suburbs - the very thing it was supposed to reduce.
Posted May 23, 2008
Relevant websites, links, news articles etc
Just some relevant things I find on google et al...
- Kensington Association
- Visit regularly to keep up to date with their campaign, and their suggestions.
(Not a bad idea to join, either!) - JJ Holland Park
- Here it is (recently updated with older, but more detailed images - you can focus right in now)
- Save Holland Park - FaceBook Group
- Join the group, if you're on FaceBook
- East West Link Needs Assessment final report
- Read it for yourself - make up your own mind
- Local resident's blog
- One local resident's journey through the myre
- Trees go in at site of new East-West road tunnel | Herald Sun
- .
- Moreland City Council's response
- Moreland City Council's submission, responding to the Eddington Report
- The Age - Winners/Losers article
- .
- Road tunnel: cracks in cost-benefits
- .
- Car tunnel will only ease a symptom
- .
- Sustainable Melbourne » Policy
- .
- $18b to solve Melbourne transport crisis : thewest.com.au
- .
- $18 billion to link east and west - National - theage.com.au
- .
- Quite prophetic, methinx
- .
- Heat, not light, at the end of the tunnel - National - theage.com.au
- .
- Westgate will get worse before it gets better.
- .
- 500 properties potentially face demolition to make way for traffic
- .
- Wrong Way: Go Back
- .
- Community Day Protest Against the tunnel and Travancore Development
- .
- Melbourne: future shock or future planned? - Editorial - Opinion - theage.com.au
- .
- Luxury car tax rise will push up all car prices: Turnbull - National
- .
- Threat to park riles locals | Herald Sun
- .
- Car tunnel will only ease a symptom - drive.com.au
- .
- Transport study full bore on tunnel - Business - Business - theage.com.au
- .
- Tunnel travel at $9 a time | Herald Sun
- .
- Maribyrnong Truck Action Group » Eddington report released
- Interesting reading in the comments section
- Royal Park Protection Group and Kensington Assoc rally behind the cause...
- .
- A letter from Greg Barber MLC - Vox
- .
- The Age 150th
- .
- No Road Tunnel Campaign by the Greens Party
- .
- http://www.wrongway-goback.com/about/
- .
- The green dream | Herald Sun
- .
- Brumby to steer transport scheme | theage.com.au
- .
- Council committee rejects tunnel plan
- .
- Will Melbourne City Council backflip?
- .
- Traffic pollution linked to asthma | Herald Sun
- .
- Lord Mayor backs tunnel | theage.com.au
- .
- Tunnel tussle looms for Labor hopeful | theage.com.au
- .
- Melbourne transport splits Labor | theage.com.au
- .
- Digg - Save Holland Park
- .
- Save Holland Park
- A community-driven blog...
- South Kensington: adding insult to injury | Make Melbourne Green
- As rising fuel costs squeeze more and more people onto Melbourne's existing public transport system, commuters boarding at South Kensington station are hit
- Locals' park protest | theage.com.au
- AROUND 500 people turned out to oppose Sir Rod Eddington's recommendation to use a park in Kensington as the staging ground for a $9 billion road tunnel.
- savehollandpark.org.au
- A great reference
- Sorry, Sir Rod, your rail tunnel plan is just loopy
- We won't find the answers to our public transport woes in the dark.
Sir Rod Eddington'ts report on east-west transport proposes the biggest capital expenditure program in Australian history. Half the $18 billion is for a single road project, which Eddington's own consultant economists suggest has a benefit-cost ratio well below one - which in plain English means it's a waste of money. - Twentyman warns on rail crossing | theage.com.au
- It is only a matter of time before more people die at the notorious St Albans railway crossing, warns independent candidate for the Kororoit byelection.
- Flinders Street congestion buses transport city traffic
- Worsening congestion on Flinders Street during the afternoon peak prompts Victoria's biggest bus company to declare it a no-go zone.
- Caltex chief says use less petrol - Breaking News - National - Breaking News
- Motorists should use less petrol in the face of rising oil prices, says the head of the Australia's largest petrol retailer. -
- Coalition raises spectre of new petrol tax | theage.com.au
- The Coalition has opened a new front in the petrol wars by challenging Kevin Rudd to say whether his proposed emissions trading scheme will include a new petrol tax of up to 30 cents a litre.
- Kensington welcomes tunnel decision - Leader News: Melbourne community news
- KENSINGTON residents have welcomed Melbourne Council's decision not to support the east-west road tunnel proposed in the Eddington report.
- Melbourne City Council votes : No Road Tunnel
- As late as Tuesday, Lord Mayor John So was telling reporters that he supported an East-West freeway.
Twenty-four hours later, with the four members of his team all indicating on the floor of the council chambers that they would uphold the sentiment of the original Planning Committee motion moved by Greens Cr Fraser Brindley to abandon Council's support for any East-West road tunnel, the Lord Mayor decided to save face. - Star News Group - Fears over - By Kerri-Anne Mesner
- CONCERNS among Sunshine home owners and members of Friends of Kororoit Creek that their homes and parklands may be destroyed by a proposed east-west road tunnel will be raised at a public meeting on 1 July.
Brimbank City Council will host an information session about the Eddington public transport report at the Glengala Community Centre from 7pm to 9pm. - Tunnel fate uncertain - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
- The Melbourne City Council has overturned its support for the proposed East-West road tunnel.
Councillors last night endorsed a report that advises against the tunnel, proposed by Sir Rod Eddington.
The underground tunnel is part of a transport strategy recommended by Sir Rod Eddington for the State Government, linking the Eastern Freeway to the western suburbs. - No margin for error in rail squeeze | theage.com.au
- Premier admits number of late or cancelled rail services could rise as train passenger numbers increase.
- Victoria: Say no to Brumby's roads and tunnel madness!
- Has the Brumby Victorian Labor government been hiding under a log? Hasn't it noticed the reports showing that climate change is speeding up alarmingly and that transport is the fastest growing cause of greenhouse emissions in Australia?
You could be forgiven for thinking that the state government and its army of advisers had never heard about climate change. The Eddington report is titled ?Investing in public transport: an east west link needs assessment? but it ignores the possibility of developing a public transport network which could actually be an alternative to private car travel. The report assumes that it isn't possible for people to switch from cars to public transport.
This is scandalous but entirely predictable. Brumby got the report he wanted, one that will provide enormous contracts for big business. But the needs of th travelling public in the age of catastrophic climate change don't get a look in. - The Oil Drum | Australia's Oil-Based Energy Security
- A proposed set of solutions for Australia in light of Peak Oil
- Committee for Geelong disappointed at east-west tunnel rejection - The Geelong Advertiser
- A SUPER-sized $9 billion tunnel under Melbourne to free up traffic from the western region and Geelong needs to go ahead despite the City of Melbourne rejecting it, a peak lobby group says.
- Defend Kensington Rally, June 21, 2008
- Defend Kensington Rally, June 21, 2008
- Driving down the road of congestion - Business - Business - theage.com.au
- Is Melbourne heading in the right direction when it comes to
linking traffic, public transport and sense? - The Age Online
NOTE This was dated August last year! - EastLink will transform state: Brumby | theage.com.au
- Victorian Premier John Brumby has declared EastLink officially open but operators ConnectEast still cannot confirm what time tomorrow the road will be open to the public.
- Relief as drivers get early start on road of success | theage.com.au
- ...Although supporters hail the project as the missing link for car users in the outer east, critics say it represents a huge failure by the Government in public transport planning.
Melbourne University transport expert Nick Low says the freeway will "lock in" residents of the outer east to car use at a time of soaring petrol prices and increased environmental concerns.
"That freeway was yet another example of building roads in the outer areas of Melbourne where the need now is for better public transport in all sorts of ways," he said. "Now we're facing a situation where petrol may go beyond $2 a litre and people can't fill up their cars."
He said increasing buses throughout the outer east, improving connections between bus and train services and extending rail lines were better ways of dealing with congestion.... - Now if only we could afford to drive on EastLink | Herald Sun
- GARBOS are drafting new collection routes, road crews are digging more carefully, parks could soon be less manicured - welcome to fuel-conscious Victoria.
- Premier the biggest loser as Kororoit swing hits 16.5% | theage.com.au
- John Brumby has emerged from the most important electoral contest of his premiership with his authority diminished and his reputation tarnished.
- Litmus test a big rebuff for Brumby | theage.com.au
- The Labor Party faces bitter internal recriminations after the Brumby Government suffered a swing of 16.5% in its heartland seat of Kororoit.
- Memo to Mr Brumby: take Kororoit's lesson to heart | theage.com.au
- The time when political parties could take some seats for granted has well and truly passed.
- EastLink launch a winner, with traffic jams proving size really does count | theage.com.au
- If the success of a debut can be measured by the size of the crowd - or the depth of congestion - yesterday's opening of EastLink was a winner.
- Gridlock as motorists race to try out EastLink | Herald Sun
- MELBOURNE'S new motorway resembled a car park yesterday as it struggled to cope with hundreds of thousands of motorists keen for their first look at it.
- Transport is what we need, not endless infighting | theage.com.au
- Letters to the editor in The Age, almost all of which call for more public transport.
- Sir Rod 'way to go' - Leader News: Melbourne community news
- THE report by Sir Rod Eddington represents the best chance the West has had for infrastructure investment in decade, the head of a western suburbs lobby group says.
- Petrol pain deepens
- Soaring petrol prices eroding living standards and Melburnians feeling particularly hard done by, according to survey.
- Transport is what we need, not endless infighting | theage.com.au
- Letters to the editor in The Age, almost all of which call for more public transport.
- For poorer suburbs, it's no picnic paying for a park | theage.com.au
- Research has revealed that rich suburbs have better-equipped parks: more picnic tables, drink fountains and toilets, trees that provide shade, water features such as a pond or creek, walking and cycling paths, lighting, signs about dog access and about restricting other activities.
- Back to the drawing board again | theage.com.au
- Just two years after it launched a transport strategy that was meant to last Melbourne 25 years, the Brumby Government has confirmed it is working on its latest major transport plan.
- Rudd says report to show drought much worse due to warming | theage.com.au
- A new very disturbing report due today shows climate change in Australia is inflicting severe drought conditions much more often, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says.
- Victoria: it's time to come clean | theage.com.au
- The day of reckoning is approaching for the state's brown coal industry.
- A message drafted in red on climate change | theage.com.au
- Demonstrators gather in central Melbourne to demand that political leaders act urgently to combat climate change.
- Rail tunnel gets big union push | Herald Sun
- MELBOURNE risks becoming a backwater unless the State Government gives priority to improving public transport by investing billions in infrastructure.
- Battle of Alexandra Parade
- The proposed East West road tunnel is not the first time the inner northern communities have faced the onslaught of massive development.
In mid 1970's the Eastern Freeway extension, then known as F19, was the catalyst for long running protests and barricades as local communities fought against the State Government to stop their suburbs being torn apart. Read on for interviews and social histories. - Political donations linked to developers, contractors | theage.com.au
- Corporate donors to the Victorian Labor Party are almost invariably companies with multimillion-dollar Government contracts or development, gaming or alcohol interests.
- New orbital freeway plan for city | theage.com.au
- Ambitious new project providing missing link in Melbourne's outer ring road network will be considered as part of wider plan by State Government to deal with Melbourne's transport chaos.
- Expert urges boost to public transport - Breaking News - National - Breaking News
- The federal government must invest at least $10 billion to untangle public transport systems in Australia's major cities, an industry expert says. -
- It&squo;s up to Brumby to make public transport better, says expert | Herald Sun
- THE onus is on the Brumby Government to end Melburnians' love affair with their cars by investing in large public transport projects.
- Australia's urban railways are full: experts | theage.com.au
- Australian urban railways are full and the federal government needs to pour at least $10 billion into meeting public transport demand, an expert panel warns.
- Peak-hour motorists forced into 23 km/h crawl | theage.com.au
- Melbourne's traffic-choked road network is slowing down, leaving peak-hour motorists crawling through the city's inner core at just 23 kilometres an hour, a confidential VicRoads report shows.
- Waiting, waiting, waiting ... | theage.com.au
- A failure by successive Victorian governments to invest in public transport has left commuters stranded and roads congested. Plan after plan promised improvement, but did not deliver - and time is running out.
- Connie comeback may solve city's transport woes | theage.com.au
- Reinstating tram conductors would save hundreds of millions of dollars and ease Melbourne's traffic congestion woes.
- East-West road connection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- East-West road connection From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article contains information about a planned or expected future road.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the road's construction or completion approaches - Rail tunnel vision praised, road link less popular | theage.com.au
- A $7 billion plan to tunnel from Footscray to Caulfield to build a new metro style underground rail line has won overwhelming endorsement from councils, transport groups and social welfare bodies.
- Transport group urges caution on rail tunnel - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
- The Public Transport Users' Association (PTUA) says the Victorian Government should be making the most of existing public transport infrastructure, before investing in a new rail tunnel.
- North Melbourne joins tunnel fight to save park | Herald Sun
- NORTH Melbourne Football Club has weighed into the transport debate, standing up for a local park that would be lost if an 18km road tunnel was built under Melbourne.
- Eddington: visionary and plodder | theage.com.au
- The road plan is just "business as usual" while the public transport plan is a winner.
- Cross-city rail tunnel likely | theage.com.au
- Premier John Brumby has given his strongest indication yet that the Government will build a multibillion-dollar rail tunnel to tackle Melbourne's public transport congestion crisis.
- Plan for new Dandenong train line off the rails | theage.com.au
- A government promise to build a new rail line from Caulfield to Dandenong appears to have been shelved.
- pt4me2: Melton goes online with petition
- skiMelton goes online with petition
Mayor Sam David (Brimbank) and Mayor Bruce Rowan (Melton) were at Melton Station recently to encourage commuters to sign the pt4me2 petition calling for better public transport in Melbourne - Social gap widens from outer to inner Melbourne | theage.com.au
- Suburbia is bearing the brunt of rising fuel prices and extreme mortgage stress, a major study of Australian cities has found.
- Doubt on homes in road plan - Leader News: Melbourne community news
- LOCAL state MPs have ducked questions about home acquisitions as the State Government considers whether to act on Sir Rod Eddington's transport report.
- Star News Group - Fears tunnel could impact on homes - By Belinda Nolan
- MARIBYRNONG residents fear they could lose their homes if the road tunnel proposed in Eddington's East West Link Needs Assessment goes ahead.
More than 50 concerned residents from West Footscray, Yarraville and Seddon attended a public meeting last Monday night, to organise a campaign against the recommendation. - Trains, trams and automobiles: getting our priorities right | theage.com.au
- An independent inquiry is the only way to resolve the public transport woes.
- Victorians' patience is being tested | theage.com.au
- John Brumby is busy on a new task: lowering expectations.
- Transurban to pursue $100m over tunnel | theage.com.au
- CityLink operator Transurban has told the Brumby Government it would be eligible for up to $100 million in compensation for lost traffic revenue if Sir Rod Eddington's proposed $9 billion east-west road tunnel proceeds.
- Second look at tunnel plan | theage.com.au
- A transport planning firm hired by the State Government to assess the need for a $9 billion road tunnel from Footscray to Clifton Hill has been hired again: to give a second opinion on its own figures.
- Freight plan calls for expansion of B-triple network in Victoria | Herald Sun
- "THE Brumby Government plans to run B-triples through some suburban streets as part of a massive overhaul of the transport sector...
...The plan would also see the massive trucks inundate numerous roads around the Port of Melbourne in Footscray and Yarraville, along with Fitzgerald Rd in Laverton and Cooper St in Campbellfield..." - Push to tax cars on how far they travel | Herald Sun
- VICTORIA'S peak motoring organisation has backed a radical plan that would see motorists tolled for every kilometre they drive.
- Report blinded by bad case of tunnel vision | theage.com.au
- THERE have been two extremes in many of the comments reported by The Age on the East-West (Eddington) transport report. Infrastructure construction interests have pressed to get on with building a $7 billion road tunnel and an $8 billion rail ...
- Strategy to ease the squeeze | theage.com.au
- Up to 20 new six-carriage trains will be ordered to ease overcrowding on Melbourne's rail system.
- Melbourne to get up to 20 new six-carriage trains
- Government to consider public-private rail partnerships
- $7 bn Footscray-Caulfield route could be abandoned - Save Holland Park: Tunnel Vision Backed - pg 32 of Herald Sun
- An article in the paper, but not online. Faithfully transcribed.
- Leaflet muddies lord mayoral race | theage.com.au
- Battle for Melbourne's next lord mayor turns nasty, with Labor-aligned candidate launching assault on left-wing Greens in leaflets to be sent to thousands of homes and businesses.
Coverage of Debney Park anti-tunnel protest
None
- The great biofuels con
- Growing crops for oil was supposed to solve global warming. Now, as food prices soar, biofuels stand condemned as a crime against humanity.
None
- Holland Park Alive! 2008
- Holland Park Alive! 2008
Saturday 22nd November - 4pm until the evening movie starting at dusk
Come and celebrate your free space.
by baudman
I'm a concerned resident of Melbourne.
I was ALREADY concerned when I learned that the State Government wanted to build another road to prevent traff... (more)
I was ALREADY concerned when I learned that the State Government wanted to build another road to prevent traff... (more)
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