Request For Service

See below: a sensible request forwarded from our local council, with a little tweaking to fit nicely onto this page. -Gavin

Council has a contract with a company to conduct the majority of road and path maintenance throughout the Borough.

There is a inspection program, however it is not perfect - things do occasionally fall through the cracks.

Council is therefore very keen to hear complaints about any path or road that is not well maintained. Council has a Request For Service mechanism that logs any complaint about roads and paths, and then actions the response.

The key message is that we want to get complaints, as it makes our job easier.

Please lodge a complaint with council officers whenever you see a bad path - eg a tree root causing a bump, concrete sections vertically displaced causing a trip hazard, etc. Contact details are on the Borough of Queenscliffe website.

Please forward this message to anyone who you think would be interested.

Borough tree strategy - good thing too

Last weekend there was a timely reminder of why we need an ongoing program to manage, remove and replace our trees.

This fallen branch may be just bad luck, combined with very strong winds - but a rational strategy should minimise such cases. Doing a small amount each year is far preferable to occasional dramatic culling.

At least, that's my opinion. As we speak, the Borough is asking us all to have our say about the trees.

Borough tree strategy - have your say

If you regularly ride or walk around the Borough, you are affected by tree management: our trees provide interest and shade, and shelter from wind and rain; they can also scratch, block views of traffic, and produce falling limbs.

After many years with only minimal attention to our trees, the new Council is now formulating a management plan - and in order to have time for urgent work before the next holiday season, they now need our input about the proposed plan.

The following notice was provided by the Point Lonsdale Civic Association, describing the consultation process and upcoming deadlines.

Borough Tree Management, Removal and Replacement Strategy

Members and friends are urged to contribute to this important issue by participating in the Information Day, which will be held on Sunday, 16 August 2009, in Princess, Citizen and Victoria Parks from 10:30am to 2:30pm. You are invited to confer with the consultants and to check out the status of the trees. Those to be removed before Christmas have yellow ribbons; one to five years have pink ribbons and those to be retained have blue ribbons. Council will provide a sausage sizzle.

The closing date for written submissions to the proposed strategy is 12noon on Monday, 24 August 2009. The report is available at the Council office, and the library, and on the Council website below.
http://www.queenscliffe.vic.gov.au/Page/Page.asp?Page_Id=651

An open forum for the presentation of submissions will be held at the Town Hall on Monday, 31 August and a special Council meeting to ratify the policy will be held on Wednesday, 23 September 2009.

Report from Public Meeting

This is a brief report on the well-attended public meeting convened by the PLCA, the Queenscliff Community Association and the Queenscliff Environment Forum, which was held on Friday, 14 August.

The purpose of the meeting was to hear presentations about the proposed changes to the Council's Tree Removal and Replacement Strategy for Princess, Citizens and Victoria Parks in Queenscliff. The implementation of this program will eventually have flow-on impacts throughout the Borough.

The presentations by Cr David Mitchell, Portfolio - Planning, Heritage and Community Assets; the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Lenny Jenner and the Mayor, Cr Bob Merriman, all stressed the complexity of the decisions and the substantial costs, which confront the Council. There are a significant number of trees, which are in poor condition and pose a potential risk to the public. The different user groups - campers, passive recreation users, participants in major events and sporting groups - all have their views about these parks and the facilities. The task for the Council is to reconcile these often-conflicting views with the necessity to take prompt action with limited financial resources.

Reminder: The next general meeting of the Association will be held on Friday, 11 September 2009, at 7:30pm in the Uniting Church Hall, Kirk Road, Point Lonsdale.

Visit the pool - without taking the car?

Locals have been thrilled with the new swimming pool in Ocean Grove, opened at the start of last summer. Each time I visit, I see families from Point Lonsdale swimming laps or taking lessons. It's a definite magnet for people of all ages.

So, why does everyone drive there? For residents in Point Lonsdale, it's not much further than cycling to Queenscliff - which is easily walked or cycled by everyone from 4-year-old kindergarten children to 84 year-olds on weekly social rides. The obvious answer: we all drive because Shell Road is not safe or pleasant, for casual cyclists or pedestrians.

That's the bad news. The good news (the potentially good news) is that there's a new proposal to create an off-road pathway from Point Lonsdale to Ocean Grove.

The pathway is no certainty - to ensure it gets high priority for action, we need to continue showing that there's strong demand for a safe and responsible route.

For more information, and to see how you can help, see the local Pedal Pushers site.

Borough Roads: have your say

The Borough of Queenscliffe is currently asking for public submissions about its draft Road Management Plan. Since almost all roads in Point Lonsdale are shared by pedestrians and cyclists, this document is relevant to all of us who value being out and about.

The plan runs to about 30 pages - amongst other things, it talks about classification of roads (Link, Collector, Access), maintenance standards, and expectations for the timeliness of repairs. I've spotted a few interesting points, and added my comments in italics.

• In section 5.2, it says Access roads .."are local residential streets and should provide a balance between the status of that street in terms of its access and residential amenity functions. Resident safety and amenity are dominant." I like that last sentence, and suggest it could also apply to all Collector roads which lack footpaths. Apparently we have no Link roads, but I'll try to determine which roads are classified as Collector roads.
• Later update: our only Collector is Fellows Road; also note Lawrence Road is in the process of gaining Arterial designation. Other roads already designated as Arterial (and therefore maintained by VicRoads) are Bellarine Highway and Point Lonsdale Road.
• In section 8.1, the document talks about timeliness of repairs. The proposed standard for all roads, even gravel roads, is 3 days for urgent repairs and 7 days for programmed work. For pathways, the proposed standard is 3 days for urgent repairs and 1 month for programmed work. Given that roadways have a standard 7-day repair cycle, I suggest pathways should have the same standard - rather than 1 month. After all, pedestrians are more vulnerable than car drivers, and have fewer alternate routes.
• In the same section 8.1, it describes a standard level of service for pathways: "paved areas to be uniform, free of irregularities, slipperiness, depressions or mounds, shaped to shed water from the footpath." There needs to be a standard level of service for unpaved areas, like the sand paths alongside Kirk Road. One real-world test would be to ensure that a small-wheel folding stroller carrying 10kg weight can easily be pushed along all parts of the pathway.

Those are just my comments, after a brief reading - I'm sure other people will find different areas of concern. I'm also keen to read the related agreements covering DSE areas and Arterial roads - like Point Lonsdale Road, which has paved and unpaved pathways alongside.

I encourage you to read the document (after a strong coffee) and write your concerns to the Borough by 4:45pm Thursday 9 July. See the online link here.

Your thoughts?

Our group is always developing ideas to help get people out and about. A few recent proposals are shown below.

We'd welcome your thoughts about these, especially if an item shouts "YESSS!" and you'd like to help get it happening.

• Regular newspaper articles to bust some myths and promote the benefits of active transport, similar to monthly energy columns in RipRumour. Maybe follow up via school newsletters or classroom visits. Show some local success stories, like PLPS or MAFRI.
• Street-level events, like some on the Victoria Walks website. A few are listed below, but note the suggestion is *not* to close streets for an event, but instead to show drivers that the streets are full of people who need slower speeds.
• Hopscotch, chalk drawing, street cricket, BBQs, letterbox decorating.
• Wheelie-bin animation festival.
• Green-waste skip visit - neighbours have a weekend of pruning, and wheelbarrow their green waste to the street's shared skip.
• Town treasure tour - like a car rally, where teams get clues and must visit particular locations to collect answers or photos or whatever. But because we're on foot or bike, we can aim at the small details missed by drivers.
• School planning "safe routes". Map the location of students, talk through the safe routes with students and parents, also do some myth-busting about the benefits of car travel. Potentially expand the idea to other user groups, eg visitors to health centre or newsagent.
• Presence at the Queenscliff Eco Expo, happening at Queenscliff Town Hall on the weekend of 19-20 September. Promote the environmental benefits of active transport, as a replacement for using the car.
• Regular social walks and rides, like the casual ones listed at http://queenspointpedalpushers.blogspot.com/
• Monthly prize for the best "in my street" photo and/or tale from someone walking or riding around Point Lonsdale, to show (on website or paper) what people miss when driving quickly.
• Street Detail Competition - publish a photo of a small street-level object (even a particular birdpoo splash, maybe shaped like a VW beetle) and reward the person who identifies the location first.
• Advocacy - this group reaches many people who value local streets and pathways, and we should make use of that. When we find a particular issue that troubles casual walkers and cyclists, we have a great opportunity to talk through the options, exchange views and experiences, and present a unified case for structural change.

Like I said earlier - we'd welcome your thoughts about these, especially if an item shouts "YESSS!" and you'd like to help get it happening.

People like you and me

You might be wondering whether this group fits your interests.
It probably does - at least sometimes, and maybe more often than that.

We see our streets and pathways as places for people to use and enjoy, rather than a network focussed on optimising car travel. We recognise that most walking and cycling journeys are for local transport and quiet recreation, not training runs by athletes - and so we're not another sports club, instead we're a group that values and encourages active transport.

Here are some typical people our group aims to support:

• kids cycling to school
• parents pushing a pram
• seniors walking to the cafe
• oldies on motorised scooters
• neighbours sharing a delivery of garden mulch
• anyone with milk and bread in their bike basket
• anyone else, out for a walk and a chat

That list definitely includes me, and it probably includes you - at least sometimes.