Advocacy is an important way for us to provide a voice for the community on issues that matter. This is an essential role of local government.
We are advocating to influence state and federal governments to fund important priority projects around planning, transport, infrastructure and services.
Manningham is the only municipality in metropolitan Melbourne not serviced by either a tram or train. Therefore, our buses are crucial to how our residents move around.
The Doncaster corridor Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) proposal is Council's public transport priority, as it can provide Manningham residents with a direct mass transit public transport connection to the CBD at a cost-effective and shorter timeframe.
We are asking for $3 million for a feasibility study to determine traffic impacts and necessary upgrades to Doncaster Road to support the BRT along the Doncaster Road corridor.
The Doncaster Park and Ride will be impacted by the construction of North East Link, with the State Government committing to a 'like for like' upgrade. This will result in the site being retained as an at-grade car park.
Council considers this to be underdevelopment of the site and a missed opportunity for a mixed-use development that could provide new public open space, employment opportunities, improved public transport access and reduced car dependency.
We ask that the State Government amend the North East Link Project reference design for the Doncaster Park and Ride to a mixed-use transit-orientated development and undertake a thorough community consultation process.
Stage 2 construction of the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) is not expected to commence until at least 2030, leaving Manningham as the only metropolitan municipality without a train or tram line for at least another 30 years.
Infrastructure Victoria's 30 year infrastructure strategy seeks to "improve frequencies and modify alignments of some existing bus routes, and introduce new services to connect the proposed train stations along the entire Suburban Rail Loop project, to start building patronage for it."
We call on the State Government to urgently implement the recommendation from Infrastructure Victoria 30 years Strategy to deliver a bus service that mirrors the SRL alignment.
Jumping Creek Road Wonga Park is in a unique and environmentally sensitive area. The road is being upgraded to improve safety for all users, including motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, whilst also protecting our wildlife and vegetation.
The works are expected to cost up to $21 million over the project life. This is a significant burden for the Manningham community, and we seek contributions from all levels of government to enable this project to proceed.
We are seeking a total of $7 million from the State Government to supplement Council's budgeted contribution of $19 million.
The North East Link Tunnels Urban Design and Landscape Plan details the importance of utilising this "once in a lifetime opportunity" to connect the nationally significant cultural assets of the Heide Museum and the cultural precinct to the surrounding parklands.
The Plan makes specific reference of achieving a continuous path between the East Link and Capital City Trail, linking the Main Yarra Trail and the Plenty River Trail for the first time. However, without a grade-separated network at the Manningham Road Interchange Council does not consider this objective will be achieved.
We want a grade separated shared user path at the Manningham Road and North East Link interchange (near the Yarra River), to provide direct and safe connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists to be included in the North East Link project scope of works.
Westerfolds Park, situated beside the Yarra River in Templestowe, offers more than 120 hectares of recreational and environmental parkland and is owned and managed by Parks Victoria.
The Westerfolds Park Manor House is a vacant heritage building in Westerfolds Park.
The building has been vacant for more than nine years and requires significant investment.
In 2019 Parks Vic conducted a study and determined that an upgrade would cost around $2.5 million.
We are seeking support for the Westerfolds Park Manor House to be upgraded and reinstated as a community facility. Without an upgrade, this valued community asset will fall into disrepair.
5 Ways is a complex staggered intersection on State controlled arterial roads in Warrandyte South that experiences significant congestion and has a poor safety performance.
This intersection experiences significant congestion and has a poor safety performance, with one serious injury, and five other injury crashes in the past five years.
In 2021 we developed a webpage, to gather evidence of community members' experiences of using 5 Ways, including any accidents or near misses. We have received around 200 responses and have passed this on to DoT.
Council has taken the initiative to prepare a concept layout to install a roundabout with an estimated cost of $10 million Council is seeking a commitment to construct a roundabout at 5 Ways intersection.
We are seeking $5 million towards improvement works for the 5-ways Intersection, Warrandyte South.
Manningham is the only municipality in metropolitan Melbourne to rely solely on buses for its public transport services.
Due to ongoing demand for bus services, requests from residents to provide bus shelters and improved bus stop facility has increased substantially. Many of the existing shelters are ageing and needing replacement as they approach the end of their design life.
Manningham Bus Network Review 2017 identified that an additional 31 new bus shelters are required as a matter of priority, based on factors like patronage, proximity of bus stop to local community amenities and historic requests. Currently, only six of these priority shelters have been delivered.
We ask the State Government, as the public transport provider, to assist Council and provide $2.17 million to address the priority list of bus shelter requests to install an estimated new 25 shelters.
Electronic Gaming Machine gambling losses in Manningham in 2018/19 were $56.4 million. According to the Alliance for Gambling Reform this is the equivalent to the cost of feeding 22,700 children for one year.
Council wants a fairer society where the gambling industry no longer causes social and economic harm in the community of Manningham. This requires a review and reformed gambling regulations to no longer cause social and economic harm.
We ask that the maximum opening hours for Electronic Gaming Machine venues (excluding Crown Casino) be reduced from 20 to 16 hours per day with mandatory closing from 2.00am to 8.00am each day.
There are currently no bridges for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the Yarra River between Finns Reserve and Bulleen Park.
Manningham Council has developed a Yarra River Corridor Concept Plan and proposes three shared user paths cross the Yarra River at Bulleen, Banksia, and Birrarung Parks. These works also align with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning's Bullen Precinct Land Use Framework Plan.
The State Government has committed to fund the detailed design and construction of the shared user path crossing at Banksia Park.
We want $400 thousand to develop the feasibility studies for shared user paths crossing the Yarra River at Bullen and Birrarung Paths.
The North East Link is Victoria's largest road project. The needs of our community and surrounding environment must be considered, before, during and after construction.
We're advocating for a Doncaster Station to be included in the first phase of construction of the Suburban Rail Loop.
We are seeking increased local access to youth mental health services in Manningham. We support the delivery of a headspace facility to meet demand and create meaningful impacts.
We welcome the announcement of funding for a service and will continue to advocate for local delivery.
The Eastern Affordable Housing Alliance (EAHA) is a formal collaboration of six councils working to address the housing affordability crisis in Melbourne’s eastern metro region.
We are seeking accelerated funding by State Government for more bus services to meet growing demand and infrastructure improvements to improve the reliability and frequency of the local bus network. Key to this, is larger capacity buses and more services during peak periods to be provided on the Doncaster Area Rapid Transit (DART) SmartBus network.
We are also advocating for the implementation of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) connection between the CBD and Doncaster as part of the North East Link Doncaster Busway project.
We will continue to advocate for a heavy rail line between the CBD and Doncaster. We are strongly advocating to ensure that the North East Link project preserves a future alignment for Doncaster Rail, and that the design of the Doncaster Busway is delivered in a manner that allows it to be transitioned to heavy rail, once buses the bus system reaches capacity.
Improved transport infrastructure through Doncaster Hill will unlock and complement regional opportunities for improved access to jobs, educational and health facilities and to other community and social services.
