Day Procedure Hospital
I read in the15th June 2008 issue of the Sunday Herald Sun that Sunbury has been earmarked for a “Super Clinic” instead of the proposed Day procedure hospital. As we all know the Super Clinics in other areas are able to provide many more services than what Day Hospital, are able to provide. If this is a true commitment in providing the residents of Jacksons Creek Ward with better services than this could be a major win for us all. These Super Clinics in some of the high growth areas bulk bill and are now operating 24 hours. Funding is the issue to ensure this goes ahead in Sunbury. It is vital that both State and Federal Government work together to ensure that Jacksons Creek Ward residence continue to have a “Super Clinic” providing Day Procedures
As your Councillor I will continue to put pressure on the Government to ensure that our Super Clinic provides us with more services, bulk billing and operate 24 Hours.
Parking
At the 4th of July breakfast meeting which I attended I was glad to hear that at last Hume City Council is listening to our concerns with the parking within Sunbury. The new CEO Mr Dominic Isola announced their latest report which is passed, it outlined new strategic plans to identified and recommend additional parking in and around Sunbury town centre.
As a member of both the Sunbury Residence Association and the Sunbury Chamber of Commerce I can say that this would not have happened without pressure from our community groups coming together and being heard.
I am most concerned about the lack of adequate parking for our commuters and will be supporting additional parking. How many residents will be happy to drive and park their vehicles, all day/night, at Diggers Rest Train Station?
As your Councillor I will continue to pressure Hume City Council to bring forward capital works to start work sooner rather than later and to make the necessary changes to improve all our parking concerns.
Electrifying the Bendigo Train line.
After many conversations with regular train computers I agree that it is not in Sunbury’s best interest to have our train line electrified.
Most commuters want the service we currently have to remain with the exception of additional trains and/or extra carriages at peak times. The trains we currently enjoy travelling on are clean, comfortable and safe with a conductor on them, whereas the “city trains” are dirty, uncomfortable and have no conductor travelling in the carriages.
There has been a lot of discussion and pressure applied to electrify the Bendigo Train line from the City to the Train Station at Sydenham Shopping Centre; this will obviously have some effect on the rest of the line unless another line is placed to allow for our current trains to continue thru to Diggers Rest, Sunbury and beyond. The residents on our line from the City to Sydenham will greatly benefit from the electrifying of the line as this will ensure extra train services.
As your Councillor I will be your voice in regards to what you want to happen on our Train Line.
Multi Function Sporting Complex
I know that we have some refurbishments outlined for our Memorial Hall however our previous Bulla Shire Council in their wisdom purchased land and put it aside for the future growth of Sunbury, unfortunately most of this land has since been sold off by Hume City Council. There is remaining one large area the old racecourse. This land is some 50 hectares in size and can be access by both ends Elizabeth Drive and Racecourse Road.
The present Hume City Council would like to see this land sold off to developers for housing. My proposal is for some of this land to be kept for a Community Development. A modern Multi Function Sporting Complex.
In the 15 years that I have lived in Sunbury the population has grown from 13,000 to 35,000 with only one new Council funded sporting grounds East Sunbury planned but not yet completed. Sunbury is a town where we embrace our sports. All kinds and most clubs will tell you that they are up to capacity and urgently need upgraded facilities to be able to cater to the continued growth. Our children need these modern facilities; our families need these modern facilities as do our senior members of our community.
A Multi Function Complex designed to meet all our local needs will suit the needs of the present and future population, as well as encouraging regional areas to also participate.
Our Multi Function Complex can be funded by the sale of what ever remaining land and from Community grants from local financial interests in our town along with State and Federal funding.
Stage One is the construction of the Multi Function Buildings where large areas would be suitable to entertain our Debutant Balls locally rather than out of Sunbury, that rooms can be divided to accommodate different sized functions – seminars and conventions along with school events, we would be limited only by our imagination. This venue would be similar to the Whittlesea Council Function centre which is equipped with smart technology. In line with Hume City Councils current “Green” emphases we could continue with recycled water, water storage abilities, solar or turbine power and more. Making this centre the most energy efficient and sort after centre in Hume. The Multi Function Complex would be able to revenue collect for our community.
Stage two is the development of updated Sporting facilities. This would include more basketball courts, football ovals, cricket pitches, soccer fields, bowling grounds, Tennis courts. We would be limited by our imagination, as we grow as a community so should our resources.
Medical mix –up
Sunbury residence has the right to know what is happing with our Day Hospital. We want to know when the work is going to start at Ardcloney House and what the completion date. We all want to know what the Day Hospital facilities are going to be?
$15 million dollars has been set aside by the Government for this project.
I have tried to get this information from our MP Joanne Duncan but she could not tell me exactly what services the Day Hospital will be providing. The longer the whole thing is delayed the more it is going to cost.
Walking Tracks
With the Girl Guides I had the pleasure of visiting Gisborne Park, which meandered along on well-made footpaths along the creek joining Sporting fields, and Municipalities Buildings The walk was not only easy but also very informative with a fitness track and plaques with local information and the best playground that I have ever seen. These walking tracks were full of people walking their dogs and children riding their bikes without the worry of traffic. What a difference to the one in Sunbury. This led me to realise that Sunbury had missed out on a great opportunity. Our paths along the creek beds are incomplete and patchy with areas where concrete paths just suddenly finish and a muddy track appears.
I believe a lot more people would use our walking paths along the creek beds if they were all joined and completed using environmentally friendly products. We could have the best nature walks in the city of Hume enriching the environment linking our heritage and our bush lands.
Walking School Bus
Great initiative Kismet Park Primary School for setting up the walking bus scheme. Kismet Park Primary School has proven this can work and it would be great if more schools set up walking buses. Most children in Sunbury live within walking distance from their primary school this would also create a lot less congestion around our schools at drop off and pick up times. Our children would all benefit by being fitter and more independent. The success is through the parent drivers.
Chamber of Commerce meeting on parking
I attended the business breakfast held by Michael Barnard from Wizard Home Loans on behalf of the Sunbury Chamber of Commerce on Friday 4 July regarding parking within Sunbury.
This meeting was attended by the CEO of Hume Mr. Domenic Isola, councilors Ann Potter and Jack Ogilvie, past councilors Veronica Burgess and Steve (Jack) Medcraft along with some concerned Sunbury traders.
Domenic Isola announced he is about to hand to council a report with recommendations into some solutions - short term and long term to the parking woes of Sunbury.
I commend the Hume city council for finally addressing this problem and look forward to this report being pasted by council at the 23rd July meeting on the implementation of the reports recommendations. I hope the one-hour parking in the town centre will be reviewed and hopefully be increased as well as solving the parking issues for the traders with in Sunbury town centre.
In Dominic’s speech he quoted that 1200 fines came from Sunbury this year. That’s 25 people per week getting fined for overstaying their parking. This is 25 too many. How many more are taking their shopping else where for fear of parking fines?
Electrifying of the Bendigo Train line.
After many conversations with regular train computers I agree that it is not in Sunbury’s best interest to have our train line electrified.
Most commuters want the service we currently have to remain with the exception of additional trains and/or extra carriages at peak times. The trains we currently enjoy travelling on are clean, comfortable and safe with a conductor on them, whereas the “city trains” are dirty, uncomfortable and have no conductor travelling in the carriages.
There has been a lot of discussion and pressure applied to electrify the Bendigo train line from the City to the train station at Watergardens Shopping Centre; this will obviously have some effect on the rest of the line unless another line is placed to allow for our current trains to continue thru to Diggers Rest, Sunbury and beyond. The residents on our line from the City to Watergardens will greatly benefit from the electrifying of the line, as this will ensure extra train services.
Although there is a lot of talk going on no decisions has been made and no budget has been set for this project so it could be some time before this may happen if at all.
To Sunbury electrifying the train may bring more trains but also comes with its own set of additional problems such as:
- The train trip will be slower than what we have right now pushing the time out to 50-60 minutes.
- Where are we going to store the trains while they are not in use, as all end of line must...?
- Trains every 20- 30 minutes requires the boom gates across Station Street to be closed twice every 20 – 30 minutes, once as the train arrives in Sunbury and once when it leaves. The boom gates are closed for at least 3 minute each time causing additional traffic jams in this area.
- The extra car parks that will be needed, parking is already a problem with some 1000 or so people getting on the train at Sunbury.
I suggest that a solution to some of the problems of having the train station in the middle of the town would be to move the Station or at least the Station’s parking area to where the via duct road will come from the Jacksons Hill estate through to Vineyard road. There is plenty of land in this area for future growth. A car park could be simply constructed by putting down road base and fencing and a bus service back to the township. This would also reduce the traffic congestion in the Town centre as well.
The boom gates at Station Street bring Gap Road, Vineyard Road, Horne Street and Station Street to a stop when they are down as well as congestion to all roads linking to these roads. The gates are down for between 3 - 5 minutes at a time.
Once the line is electrified the trains will be coming into Sunbury station and turning around and leaving going through the boom gates twice within a short period of time. One is to assume that if the train line is to be electrified that it will mean additional train service, thus increasing the amount of time that Gap Road, Vineyard Road, Horne Street and Station Street will be traffic locked.
The solution to this problem and parking at the Station is to move the Station to the outskirts of Sunbury where there is plenty of open land. This was done at Watergardens and was very successful. Moving the station would also alleviate the parking and a lot of the traffic congestion within the town centre allowing more parking been for shoppers and traders.
We are all caught up in the hysteria of the Sunbury line being electrified, where at this stage no capital funding has been allocated for this work. I do know that electrifying the train line to Sunbury will not cost a great deal as most of the upgrades to the lines were done when the fast rail line was upgraded.
What the real need is greater passenger capacity in peak hours. Does it really matter how it is achieved?
Electrification –
- Slower – as no timetable has been discussed this is at best scaremongering. If the electric train from Sunbury followed the same schedule as the current V-Line then the trip would take about the same time with (hopefully) the added advantage of direct access to the City Loop (unless the train ran North Melbourne – Southern Cross direct).
- Train Storage – None issue – Watergardens has holding yards. Don’t turn this into a deal breaker – it isn’t!
- Boom Gates – Yes this is a serious issue regardless of Electric or Diesel. The crossing should be “fixed” regardless of train type. The issue of extra closures pre-supposes additional services only if the train is electrified. (see not 1 about schedules).
- Car Parks – This an issue now and should not be linked to electrification. Where is the data to show electrification will create extra passengers? Busing passengers from a remote car park defeats the purpose of driving to the station and being reasonably close to the shopping centre/town centre. Whilst I think more people should use the existing bus services and thereby causing an expansion of the services, “forcing” people onto a shuttle bus will cause resentment. Building a new station has merit regardless of V-Line or electric. Other stations have been moved by building a newer station just down the track with great success. Watergarden is an example. (Issue to consider is the linking of buses to train to town centre).
While I am not apposed to the progress of Sunbury, I believe that most commuters want the service that we already have with additional trains or extra carriages at peak times. The trains we get now are clean and comfortable where the city trains are not as good.
Parking in and around Sunbury
The cost of petrol is making the parking in Sunbury even worse. We now have more people using our public transport. There are insufficient all day parking spaces for those who commute via trains and/or bus services, for traders and for those who wish to shop in Sunbury. I believe that we need to tackle the problem from at least two directions
Firstly we need to look at the bus services and improve and increase routes and encourage train uses, where possible, to leave their cars at home and use the buses instead.
Secondly, we need to create more parking spaces; there seems to be no more land available within our business district. I suggest a more effective use of current allocated parking spaces is to create one or more multi level car parks. For example I believe we could look at using the space over the top of the bus shelters next to the station so it is central to all traders and commuters alike. It is also close to Sunbury Square and Sunbury Central.
This has worked very well in other municipalities such as Bacchus March and Ballarat and could work well for us too. We could be the first suburb in the City of Hume that fixes the car-parking problem.
Community Public Dentist paid not to work
It has been brought to my attention that while the Brumby Government has just bought another 65 dental chairs he fails to put sufficient funding for treatment and we end up having a situation like what is happening in Sunbury right now.
Residents have to wait almost two years to see a public dentist in Sunbury while dentist go on paid leave.
The Sunbury Community Health centre has one full time dentist and one part time dentist plus their own dental nurses that are on paid leave because of no funding for treatment.
Treatment stopped at Sunbury about 6 Week ago and no more dental works will commence for at least another 6-8 weeks when more funding is allocated.
Why have a system that has money for the staff and not the treatment.
Why aren’t the staff moved around the City of Hume and used where there is still funding.
How many other services are being wasted in this way?
Bulla road
Why it that the only people that think Bulla road is a problem are the people who use this road every day.
Our calls for help are falling on deaf ears.
We have a deep valley with a narrow bridge that was built over 100 years ago and that the authorities believe there isn’t a traffic problem.
What has to happen before we get some action?
There is some 25,000 cars using this road every day, it is a life line to the Sunbury area and beyond and no one is listening.
Why?
Do we have to wait until the bridge collapses before the Government and Vic roads do something about it?
So many questions so few answers.
It is obvious to a lay person like me that it is only a matter of time before we have a major disaster on our hands. We need the Bulla by- pass that was spoken about 25 years ago or at least a second bridge across this valley so that the traffic has two lanes both ways. The traffic problem will only get worse with time and it won’t be long before the growth of our International airport adds further to this problem.
Melbourne Water Tax
I believe that if we have to have yet another tax on our water that the money raised should be spent in Sunbury. We need money and water spent on the Village green, water tanks supplied to all community buildings. We have very good active community groups looking after Emu Bottom wetlands, Blind Creek, Jacksons Creek and Emu Creek where help and funding is always excepted we don’t need another body telling them what to do.
Wasn’t Parks and Gardens suppose to be looking after the water way?
I am in favour of recycled water but I acknowledge it does come at a cost.
The recycled water that is now being widely used on sporting field, it may be keeping them green and able to continue to be played on it is causing a problem with our water ways by reducing the flow of water through our creeks. The reduced water flow allows weeds to grow and stock to break down the soft edges of the creeks. We still use to much water and I believe more could done.
Multi Function Sporting Complex
The Bulla Council in their wisdom bought land and put it aside for future growth of Sunbury. Most of this land has been sold off by the Hume city council but there is one large area left and this is the old race course. This land is some 50 hectares in size and can be access by Elizabeth Drive and Racecourse Road. The present council would like to see this land sold off for housing. My proposal is for some of this land to be kept for a community development.
In the 15 years that I have lived in Sunbury the population has grown from 13,000 to 35,000 and no new council funded sporting grounds have been added with the exception of Rolling Meadows football field at Goonawarra that is planned but not completed yet.
Sunbury is a town where we embrace our sport of all kinds and most clubs will tell you that they are to capacity and need upgraded and new sporting facilities to be able to continue growing as the population needs it to do so.
A Multi Function Complex could be designed to suit the need of the present and future population.
Stage One should be the building of a very large hall that could be used to hold major functions such as conventions, Deb Balls, school events and anything else the community require a large indoor area. The hall needs to be designed in such away that several groups could use it as meeting rooms at the same time. Similar to the Whittlesea Council centre function centre with smart technology, recycled water, water storage abilities, solar or turbine power and more. Making this centre the most energy efficient and sort after centre.
Stage two: could be the sporting facilities that the community needs, this could be more basketball courts, football fields, soccer fields, bowling grounds, Tennis courts.
