Brunswick Needs You

Residents of Albert Street in Brunswick are opposing plans to build a 14-storey tower in Albert Street near Safeway. The development includes 192 dwellings, retail space and 197 underground car-parking spaces -- a large-scale development that sets a precedent for high-rise residential buildings that will change the character of our neighbourhood. You can download a Word document to fax an objection to the council from here.

Sydney Road protest

There’s a public meeting to protest the clearway extension plans on Thursday, June 5 at 4.30pm at Brunswick Town Hall, corner of Sydney Road and Dawson Street. All welcome.

Lygon Street update

The clearway times on Lygon Street won’t be extended, as Lygon Street is considered a local road, according to information we have received. There is also pressure to include a properly marked bicycle lane on Sydney Road as part of the clearway extension, to ensure that bikes, trams and ars have equal access to road space.

Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy

Download a PDF of the strategy, which includes proposals to give Sydney Road separate bike, car and tram lanes and to prioritise walking and cycling as transport modes in Moreland.

Carlo Carli on a different approach to clearways

I think the issue of clearways and the use of road space should be a little more sophisticated than just a no clearway stance. Parking interferes with trams and cycling. I think we should re-engineer Sydney Road to favour sustainable transport – walking, cycling and public transport. The key here is separating the local small business issues from the transport issues and addressing them one by one.
In transport the issue here is road space management and how we:
• Ensure right of way for trams and other forms of public transport
• Expand cycling and walking facilities
• Encourage the government to be more balanced in its implementation.
Traditionally expanding clearways in Melbourne means expanding road space, and more space for single occupancy vehicles which is most inefficient. What we should be calling for is, firstly, negotiation/consultation from the government and secondly, a new type of clearway (more like the London model) where parking is not replaced with car lanes but with a tram right-of-way and a bike lane.
How about a Sydney Road in peak hour with one bike lane, one car lane and one tram lane? This already exists on Mount Alexander Road. It could be done in a way that makes the road safer and discourages through traffic. Remember Brunswick has the highest number of people who cycle to work in Melbourne.
Carlo Carli MP | Member for Brunswick

 

Moreland Greens media release

Greens says extension of clearway hours wrong answer, says Government
failing to ask the right question
Moreland Greens councillor Andrea Sharam said that the real issue was
about getting people out of cars, onto bikes, into walking and onto
public transport.
Ms Sharam said that the Victorian government’s plan to extend
clearway times to 6.30am to 10am and 3pm to 7pm:
• would harm retail trading and compromise the viability of many inner city
shopping strips
• did not consider that increasing the hostility of a street by
increasing the clearway times discouraged pedestrians and tram users
• that congestion acts to calm traffic and discourages car use
• that tram travel times could be improved through other measures such as
priority signalling, no right hand turns for vehicles, raised platform
- curb extension type tram stops that force vehicles to slow down and
stop for passengers
• that tram travel time is only one measure of satisfaction for tram
patrons – trying to get on or off a tram during peak hours where
clearways operate, for example, is dangerous.
She said that it was a policy that put car travel first and disregarded
the many negative consequences and alternatives. “And let’s not forget
that the Citylink freeway was supposed to solve the problem – clearly it
hasn’t and neither will turning inner city shopping strips into little
freeways for a longer part of the day.”

Further information 0428 999 606

Johnston Street, Collingwood

We lived in Abbotsford in the 1980s and had an office in Johnston Street, Collingwood until the early 1990s. It’s one of the most traffic-blasted streets in inner Melbourne. If you want to see why we don’t want clearways extended on other main roads in the inner city, take a walk down Johnston Street from Smith Street to Hoddle street around five o’clock in the afternoon …