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ON -TRAC
?Transport Action Coalition Newsletter
October 2000
PO Box 948
Fremantle 6160
email:
pinter@opera.iinet.net.au Web Site:
TRAC?s Fremantle Festival Activities
It?s that time of year again and this year, the venue for our annual festival has been shifted to Valley Park. We are having a joint celebration with the Hazel Orme Kindergarten who are celebrating the opening of their mural masterpiece. Valley Park is a lovely little park on the corner of Watkins Street and Nannine Avenue and TRAC?s contribution to the day?s festivities will be from 2pm - 5pm, on Saturday, 18th November. Hazel Orme will then celebrate the opening of their mural with a BYO BBQ at 5pm.
The day gets off to a kick start at 1.00pm with tree planting along Wood Street. Meet at Wood Street Park at the corner of Wood and Watkins Sts. This is to remind the Government that this street is a fundamental and maintained component of the White Gum Valley community. Some of these trees have been donated by the Fremantle Council who, are supportive of TRAC, our annual festivals and our endeavours to block Main Road?s scheme to carve up our community. Everyone is welcome to help plant trees. Think of the satisfaction when five years down the track (excuse the pun), you are looking at your flourishing tree, and reminiscing that there could have been a horrible piece of concrete and bitumen jammed with polluting traffic instead of this appealing tree-lined residential street.
After the tree planting, everyone is invited to join in the feast of activities in Valley Park which include:
The stalls will include a White Elephant stall and a Bookstall. TRAC members are invited to contribute items for these stalls and all proceeds go to TRAC. All contributions can be brought along on the day. Everyone is encouraged to bring along their favourite concoctions of preserves, jams and sauces as well as fruit, flowers and vegetables to enter the Local Produce competition.
There is no entry fee to the festival and fun is guaranteed.
TRAC?s FREMANTLE FESTIVAL PARADE WHICH STARTS AT 4:00pm ON SUNDAY 19TH NOVEMBER
Once again TRAC is participating in the Fremantle Festival Parade, so if you have done it before do it again and if you haven?t, join in the fun this year.
TRAC is coordinating a White Gum Valley community float. We aim to show everyone what a great place WGV is and that a highway through the middle of our suburb will destroy the fantastic community spirit we have built up. It is important we have maximum numbers as a government minister is always a part of the judging panel and there is often TV coverage, to say nothing of the thousands of spectators.
This year?s Festival theme is CONNECTED. TRAC will be building a maypole which will have connections to all the WGV community groups. Many of the WGV groups or organisations have already agreed to participate and each of them have chosen their own theme and colour. TRAC?s theme colour is shades of blue.
To be part of the TRAC float you can either make your own costume and/or come to the TRAC Festival Parade workshop to help with the maypole and costume making. We especially need those of you who have brilliant artistic skills and also those who can paint a flat surface and use a pair of scissors.
Workshop
, SATURDAY 4th Nov, 1.00pm to 4.00pm . .Parade
, SUNDAY 19th Nov. Meet at 3:00pm in the carpark on Marine Tce next to the Italian Club.
Upcoming Community Events
Tuesday 31 October, Fremantle Education Centre, 7.30pm
The Fremantle Greens are hosting a forum to discuss transport issues in Fremantle in view of the upcoming election. All political parties have been invited. Please come to this forum, as it is an ideal opportunity for us to be heard and to make the Fremantle Bypass a major issue and ensure it is on the agenda for all candidates.
This also addresses transport and development/planning issues so it is worthwhile to have a read. There is a 3 month comment period. An objective of the plan is to look at rezoning possibilities for road reserves if/when any are deleted. We should begin to develop a community plan(s) for the bypass road reservation land especially Clontarf Hill which could become a great community focal point. This could be used as a starting point to lobby council. If you are interested in being involved in the creation of a TRAC plan for Clontarf Hill, contact us . .
A Prayer for the Stressed!
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I
cannot change,
the courage to change the things I cannot accept,
and the
wisdom to hide the bodies of those people I had
to kill today because they
pissed me off.
And also, help me to be careful of the toes I step on
today as they may be connected to the ass that I may have
to kiss
tomorrow.
And help me to
remember.....
When I'm really pissed off about the possibility
of a huge polluting freeway right outside my door,
that it takes 42 muscles to frown and
only 4 to extend my
middle finger and tell them to bite
me!
Amen
Merger of MRWA and Dept of Transport
There has been some talk recently of a re-organisation of the transportation departments in WA. This has mainly focussed on exerting greater control of the Main Roads WA (MRWA) juggernaut. It has been suggested that MRWA should be brought under the auspices of the Department of Transport (DoT). Just how a small, under-funded Department of Transport is to take over and administer the well-funded and powerful MRWA will need to be carefully detailed. In any merger it is more likely that MRWA will exert the controlling influence. The formation of CALM, a merger of 3 departments in the 1980s, is a recent example and one we should learn from where the Forestry Department, one of the merged departments, effectively took control of the new department.
It is important to note that DoT is far from a shining example of transport enlightenment. It has put forward some positive programs but lacks the will to actively campaign for their implementation. Anybody who has been involved in the Leighton-Cottesloe Transport Plan should also be concerned with DoT's new modus operandi. In this case it has actively pushed a new highway proposal, ignoring much of its own evidence on the problems of building new highways, and has misrepresented many community objections along the way. A number of recently published Dept of Transport documents advocate widescale highway construction, including the bypass.
It is clear that a big shake-up is required in transport administration in this state. Rather than forming a new super department, we need a management that is responsive to community needs, not a mouthpiece for industry. The replacement of senior bureaucrats in both departments would be a step. The community needs people with vision, who are willing and able to utilise the latest in transportation research and who are able to make integrated planning decisions. The method of MRWA's funding also needs to change from the present non-specific funding.
A petition has been enclosed with this newsletter and we are asking all TRAC members to photocopy the petition and place copies in your local corner shop, laundromat, restaurant, supermarket or anywhere else you consider suitable. Another suggestion is that you take the petition around your neighbourhood and gather as many signatures as you can. We all know that a State Government election is looming and we have a very limited time to remind the political parties that there is very strong opposition to the Fremantle Eastern Bypass. It is now time for all TRAC members to combine their support and show the Government and the Opposition that we are still alive and kicking and intend to stop the Main Roads? madness.
Politicians are busy people with numerous agendas on their plate and unless they are reminded by a strong show of community opposition to the Bypass, they may think that this issue is not worth worrying about. We only have a few months to galvanise this opposition for a last concerted effort, and if we are successful, we can all give each other a pat on the back for changing history and stopping what many people have considered a Main Roads' fait accompli.
Politicians have to listen to their electorate because WE elect them and petitions are a very effective method of allowing them to see just how many people oppose this threat to our community. Fremantle is special and unique, lets keep it that way. As one local resident pointed out the other day, her 6 year old son has a playmate who lives only two blocks away, but if this Bypass goes ahead, he will have to be driven there as this is a limited access highway. If we need reminders of how divisive this highway would be, take a trip to Servetus Street. Residents will not be able to easily travel east-west in Fremantle and in many instances, it will totally impede pedestrian traffic and force more residents into their cars so that they can drive to the overpasses and access points.
WE DO NOT WANT THIS HIGHWAY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES
MAIN ROADS THUMBS ITS NOSE AT EVERYONE
(including a Government Minister)The Court Government?s position on the Fremantle Eastern Bypass as stated in their Land Transport Directions document states that the construction of the Fremantle Rockingham Highway is included as a funded urban road improvement project (2003/4) and as a key metropolitan project along with the Roe Highway extension. Their Freight Strategy (page 19) states "Construct the Fremantle Eastern Bypass".
TRAC has been negotiating with all parties to stop the proposed Fremantle Eastern Bypass (FEB) and its extensions (South St, Roe Highway, Rockingham Highway, Western Suburbs Highway, Curtin Ave Extension) for many years now. Those negotiations have brought Fremantle City Council (FCC) to a position where it is formally opposed to construction of the FEB.
TRAC representatives have been seeking information on the costs and other issues associated with upgrading the Rockingham Road - Stock Road - Leach Highway route as an alternative to FEB for the past two and a half years. Council?s Transport Planner has also been making formal approaches to Main Roads seeking the same information.
In November 1998 a meeting was held between the Minister for Transport, Murray Criddle and representatives from Fremantle City Council, including the Mayor, to discuss the FEB. Cost estimates for the FEB (coastal) route and the alternative (inland) route were finally provided by MRWA in May 1999. Unfortunately these were carried out by MRWA and proved to be biased and confusing, not the independent assessment we called for.
A second meeting was held in June 1999 with the Minister for Transport, Murray Criddle; the Mayor, CEO and Transport Planner of Fremantle City Council; officers of Main Roads WA and Rose Pinter, representing TRAC and East Ward. At this meeting it was agreed with the Minister, that there would be a comparative assessment of the FEB and the Stock Road routes and that there would be a structured process for key stakeholders groups "to consider the issues raised following a study of the merits of the two networks and see if a common position can be reached".
It was clear from this meeting that MRWA were reluctant to participate and resistant to suggestions that Stock Road was a viable option. However, the Minister, stated that it was a reasonable request and that MRWA documents should be made available to the FCC. He directed the (then) Acting Commissioner of Main Roads, Mr Greg Martin and the Manager of Road Network Planning, Mr Paul Trichilo, to cooperate with the City to further this process
A stakeholder workshop was held in March 2000. At this meeting, Paul Trichilo from MRWA stated that one of the reasons for building the FEB was to justify the extension of Roe Highway through the Bibra Lake wetland system to join Stock Road and the FEB. He acknowledged that this was extremely delicate in environmental terms. He also acknowledged that the Rockingham Hwy was unlikely to be built in the near future as there was no funding for it.
In April 2000, a meeting was held with MRWA, FCC and Fremantle Chamber of Commerce representatives. At this meeting, it was agreed that the existing analytical work already undertaken by MRWA was to be examined in detail. The basis for the discussion was that the study should look at performance based comparisons, taking into account the economic, social and environmental impacts of the two alternatives. This should also include the impact of the long-term development scenario planned to take place south of Fremantle.
The results of this evaluation was then to have been presented at a second stakeholders Workshop. There has been no further progress since April. Indeed there has been considerable resistance to furthering this process. MRWA has not returned calls, employed delaying tactics and has now suggested that the process has occurred and that the comparative study has been done. They suggest that a document produced in July 1999 (prior to the meeting with the Minister outlining the requirements of such a study) is the answer to the Minister?s requested comparison.
MRWA has now embarked on a cynical publicity exercise indicating their unwillingness to discuss alternatives. It waited until now to demolish a heritage house in High St despite the highway proposal being off the books for three years and an election in the air.
MRWA not only thumbs its nose at the community and the Fremantle City Council but also at their own Minister for Transport. What is the Minister for Transport going to do next? Another meeting has been called on 9th November 2000 with those who attended the meeting in June 1999. Watch this space for the next twist from MRWA.
TRAC Meetings
If you would like to become more involved in TRAC issues, we hold friendly and informal meetings once a month and the next meeting is scheduled for 7pm on Thursday, 2nd November.
If a red tick appears on your address label, your TRAC membership is due
- Many thanks. Remember, the more funds available to TRAC, the more we will be able to promote our campaign and stop the Main Roads Dept. from clearfelling our community.
Like to Join TRAC ?
We have a self-assessment joining fee.
$5.00 low income, $10.00 medium income, $20.00 high income
I support the objectives of the Transport Action Coalition Inc.
a) To promote environmentally sustainable transport options
b) To oppose the construction of the Fremantle Eastern Bypass
c) To promote a grassroots campaign to preserve and build community
We are not only looking for financial support but also your help & support at our monthly meetings. Your support it essential.
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