Feedback on the state of Victorian roads

Dear Greg

I agree wholeheartedly with your comments in the Wangaratta Watchdog, 27 January 2006 in which you point out that "The Whitfield Road is only the tip of the iceberg".

There is a fundamental problem of chronic underfunding of country roads and bridges.

The Victorian Nationals' solution for this is to allocate 1% of the GST (currently about $80m pa) to go direct to country councils for country roads as has been done with the highly successful Federal Government Roads to Recovery Program.

I enclose The Victorian Nationals Plan for Local Government which provides further information on the proposal.

Bill Sykes MP, State Member for Benalla
Ph: 03 5762 2100 Fx: 03 5762 4478 Mobile: 0427 624 989
Email: bill.sykes@parliament.vic.gov.au

It is encouraging to know that our State Member of Parliament is aware of the local road conditions and that he will raise the issue with the Minister for Transport, Peter Batchelor. It is also encouraging to read the Victorian Nationals Plan for Local Government, a policy that could overcome many rural infrastructure problems.

We should remember that there will be State elections in November and that it is likely that we will get a variety of Government members visiting the area in their election campaign.

To make these people aware of our lousy road conditions, we should ensure that they are driven over some of the worst roadways in the municipality to make a point.


Whitfield Road repairs under way
1 February 2006

Since going public with the state of the Whitfield Road, we have had a couple of weeks of hot weather. With temperatures soaring over 40 degrees C melting the bitumen, the timber trucks thundering down the road have broken up the surface and pushed up mounds of roadway high enough to hit the bottom of your car.

Vicroads are now doing major repair works on the Whitfield Road at King Valley, excavating down to half a metre to repair the affected areas. It just shows what can happen when your local polititions get involved. Well done Bill!

History of the Grapevine - first edition

The Grapevine, now published as the King Valley Community Grapevine, is an institution around Moyhu and the wider district. The first fifty editions, published before the advent of the IT revolution, show a community involvement that appears to have been lost in the twenty first century.

The first edition of the Grapevine was published in November 1993. It was called the "Moyhu Community Newsletter" and was funded by the Moyhu Lion's Club. The editorial committee was comprised of Dorothy Casey, Tina James, Neil Jarrott, Denise & Glen McCallum and Fiona Sheather. Eventually, Dorothy Casey became the sole editor producing 100 outstanding editions that ultimately won awards for the best community newsletter in the North East of Victoria.

The first few editions were photocopied, cut and paste projects. By edition five, Jeremy Wozniac of the King Valley Tree farm joined the team and computerised the publication and had it produced by Wangaratta TAFE.

The first edition can be downloaded below. It truly was a community publication with contributions by the Cubs, the Brownies, Home-Care (Shire Oxley), Moyhu & District Youth Club, Moyhu Tennis Club, Moyhu Lions Club, Moyhu Community Health Centre, Moyhu Fire Brigade, Moyhu Playgroup, Moyhu & District Pre-School, Myrrhee Primary School, Neighbourhood Watch, Moyhu Primary School, King Valley Learning Exchange, Moyhu & District Senior Citizens Club and the Moyhu Cricket Club.

The highlight of the firat edition is the Moyhu CFA report of the 1993 flooding of the King River.

Those days of local community involvement seem a long way away. Local contributors to the February 2006 edition of the King Valley Community Grapevine are the Moyhu Lions Club, O&K Community Health, Green Thumbs Garden Group and the King Valley Learning Exchange. The remaining content comes from the Rural City of Wangaratta and the State Government.

The Watchdog will republish the early editions so that we can all get a better understanding of our local culture. Click on each page for enlargement

News Briefs and Updates

Fill your car with biofuels, says BP
28 January 2006 ... The Australian
THE chief scientist for global energy giant BP says it's time to "get serious" about filling our petrol tanks with alternative fuels.

---

By 2055, travel will be a rare luxury
28 January 2006 ... The Australian
LONDON: The right to travel when and where we please will be severely eroded over the next 50 years as the shortage of cheap oil and environmental concerns force us to lead more local lives, according to a British government report.

---

ABS - Australian Wine and Grape Industry, 2005
Latest ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 25/01/2006
The record year of 2003-04 for the Australian wine and grape industry was surpassed in 2004-05 with increases in harvest, crush and wine production levels.

---

The Starlight Cinema came to Edi Upper last Saturday night. The evening started with a bar-b-q put on by the Edi-Upper Tennis Club and was followed by an outdoor cinema presentation of 'Thr Incredibles" courtesy of the RCoW.

It was a night of some drama with an electrical storm knocking out the power around 6.00pm. Rural ingenuity came to the rescue with a couple of movie goers rushing home to get their portable generators - one to keep the drinks cold and the other to run the projector.

Whilst the outdoor cinema might be a novelty to Wangaratta residents, this type of event is highly apprecuiated by small rural communities an it provides an opportunity to bring the local community together. The RCoW should be encouraged to provide this service to all of the small communities in the municipality on a cyclic basis.

Feel good portfolios?

from THE CHRONICLE, Friday, 27 Jan 2006
Portfolios reinstated
By Sally Evans

PORTFOLIOS have been reinstated in the Rural City of Wangaratta, almost a year since they were axed by the former council.
Seven portfolio fields were appointed to each of the councillors at a meeting on Tuesday night.
Committee positions were also allocated in line with portfolio fields, with most councillors accepting about six committee roles.
Councillor Rozi Parisotto, who was part of the previous council which scrapped portfolios, said it was a proud moment for her to see the system return.
"It's taken 12 months for this council to do a 360 turn around," she said.
"I congratulate this council for using a commonsense approach to bring back portfolios, giving the community a direct link with their council and not having wards make portfolios even more important.
"They have been very effective in the past, they have allowed councillors to strengthen their skills, see projects completed and I think that's part of the wonderful approach of having portfolios."
Councillor Roberto Paino also supported the motion and was particularly in favor of the portfolios being set for only 12 months.
"One of the key things about the new structure is they will be reviewed annually," he said.
"It gives the opportunity for all councillors to have a change during the term of council and perhaps have a look at something else."
Portfolios were axed through a controversial move by council in February last year.
The authority instead voted to appoint councillors to specific committees in a bid to distribute work more equitably.
The decision sparked a protest by three councillors, including Cr Parisotto, who refused to take on committee roles.

RURAL CITY OF WANGARATTA PORTFOLIOS FOR 2005/06
Corporate governance - Mayor Don Joyce
Assets and infrastructure - Cr Justin Scholz
Environment services and land management - Cr Neville Wright
Arts and culture - Cr Rozi Parisotto
Tourism and economic development - Cr Bernard Young
Sport and recreation - Cr Roberto Paino

Greg's comment:

Whilst it is good to see that the new council has reinstated portfolios, the comments of Cr Parisotto and Cr Paino appear to be rather self serving.

The idea of portfolios 'allowing councillors to strengthen their skills' and 'giving the opportunity for all councillors to have a change during the term of council and perhaps have a look at something else' may not be very well accepted by the ratepayers.

This should not be about councillors - it should be about better representation of those who elected them.

I would have thought portfolios was about improving the lines of communication betweeen ratepayers, the municipality and the state authorities to achieve more positive outcomes for everyone.

Social Statistics on your life in Wangaratta

The Australian Local Government Association has recently updated its social statistics and gives us the opportunity to compare our local experience with other areas in the country. The starting point, of course, is to compare the Rural City of Wangaratta with the Australian average.

The first statistic shows that the RCoW has very few indigenous residents (0.6% v 2.2% Australia wide). That would support the premise that the North East aboriginees were rounded up and eliminated back in the time of Wangaratta's founding father, George Faithful.

The age profile is pretty average with a variance of only 3% for the >65 group from the national average. That makes you wonder about the dire predictions of an excessive aged population in the municipality.

Our marital status is comparable with 4% fewer people never married and 4% more who are married.

We have a much higher proportion of Australian born residents at 90.9% compared to the national average of 76.9%. Our top 5 migration sources are 661 residents from the United Kingdon, 555 from Italy, 157 Germans, 137 New Zealanders and 136 Dutch people.

Migration is not one of our strengths with only 63 people arriving in the last 18 months. This represents 0.2% of our population compared to 1.3% nationally. With these figures, the current campaign by the RCoW to attract migrant workers may well be doomed. The Regional Migration Incentive Fund (RMIF) has provided funding and assistance for the Rural City of Wangaratta to develop and implement a three year Regional Migration Strategy. The strategy will be the basis for attracting skilled and business migrants and their families to settle and work in north east Victoria. Let's hope it is effective.

With 94.6% of our residents speaking only English at home, it would be no surprise that most of the others speak Italian.

A higher proportion of Wangaratta residents completed year 10 or less (51% v 47%) which has resulted in a loss of $37 per week in disposable income. In the group of men aged 35 to 44 years, this differential blows out to $122 per week ($710 v $588).

These lower incomes might explain why only 32% of us access the Internet whilst the national average is 39%. Then again, it could be due to the degraded phonelines and shortage of broadband throughout the municipality.

The Moyhu sub-set of statistics shows some disturbing variations from the Wangaratta statistics. With 42% of the Moyhu people working as labourors/tradesmen compared to 25% for Wangaratta, it would appear that there is a large socio/economic variation at play. The incomes are also down by at least $30 a week in all categories. A higher proportion of the Moyhu sub-set completed year 10 or less, and fewer of them access the Internet.

If lower education and lower wages makes Wangaratta residents second class citizens, does that make rural residents third class citizens?

Now, while these may not be the statistics drawn upon by the RCoW and other government departments to sell their ideas to the community, they can all be verified by accessing the VLGA website by clicking the VLGA logo above.

Mountain Cattlemen Get-together

RCoW Councillor contact reference

The RCoW web site has finally been updated after last November's elections. Below is the RCoW published list of councillor contact phone numbers and email addresses. Councillor Justin Schulz also has a web site.

Remember, you no longer have a ward representative - you now have seven councillors to advocate on your behalf. Use them!

Ex-mayor backs public space retention

Chronicle Opinions 25 Jan 2006

I AM writing in support of the Pelican Court residents in their campaign to save their neighborhood children's playground.
    They have every right to be upset at the plans of the Rural City of Wangaratta to close and sell their park. As stated in last Friday's Chronicle the residents want to retain their local neighborhood playground.
    They do not like the idea of their small children having to travel longer distances over busy roads to a central playground. I fully agree with them.
    Our children are our future. I served in excess of a decade as a councillor of the previous City of Wangaratta. Most of that time I held the position of chairman of the Town Planning Committee. I believe that I have a good understanding of why there is so many small parks scattered throughout the city.
    I further believe that I am well qualified to comment on the intention of the present day council to sell off many of the children's playgrounds throughout the city.
    During my time as chairman of the planning committee, and probably for decades prior to that time, it was a requirement of developers to set aside a proportion of their development for 'Public Open Space'.
    Many of them did not like the idea of foregoing profit in order to meet this requirement. However, developers had no choice in the matter, it was mandatory.     Previous councils in their wisdom saw the need for local neighborhood playgrounds. They realised that the residents of the various developments would require a safe local area where their children could play.
    I do not believe that it was ever the intention that all parks would be developed with playground equipment such as swings and slides etc. Children also require safe open spaces where they can run around and kick a ball as in the Pelican Court playground.
    The idea of getting rid of the local neighborhood parks in order to finance a large fully equipped central park is ludicrous. No caring parents of young children would be at all happy or willing to send their children to a remote playground with the necessity of crossing busy roads in order to get there and home again.
    The current council is being very short sited in their stated intention to sell a significant number of these playgrounds. They do not appear to have heeded the wisdom of their predecessors when it comes to child safety.
    Having been there in the past, I have no doubt that the decision to flog off these public assets would have originated from an idea of a senior officer of council. They are more interested in a short term quick fix. The new councillors must do all within their power to rescind these recent decisions.
David Allen,
Past councillor and mayor,
Former City of Wangaratta.

It is good to see that the new council does not automatically accept the recommendations of the beauacrats presented to them at council meetings. They have recognised the ground swell of public opinion regarding the selling off of neighbourhood public space by delaying the final decision regarding the sale of these 'parks'.

Ex-mayor Allen clarifies the issue by showing that these 'parks' are actually council mandated 'public spaces' and the beauracracy has no right trying to abolish that mandate. Let us hope that our newly elected councillors continue to represent the electorate.

Whitfield Road – repairs needed

Friday, 20 January 2006

Local residents took advantage of the presence in the King Valley last week of Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes and Leader of the Victorian Nationals, Peter Ryan, to highlight their concerns about the unsafe condition of the King Valley section of the Wangaratta-Whitfield Road.
      Michael Newton of J.A. Newton Bus Service is very concerned about the safety of school children and charter bus passengers.
      Mr Newton has written to Dr Sykes stating … "at times our buses have to travel on the wrong side of the road to avoid excessively large pot holes. Also the road is not wide enough when the bus meets oncoming vehicles.”
      Dr Sykes said, “This concerns me greatly as the last thing we want to do is to put the lives of our children at risk. In addition to concerns regarding buses, local wine makers Arnie Pizzini and David Maple expressed concerns regarding the risks associated with the many B doubles which travel on the road.
      “Nationals Leader, Peter Ryan and I were shown road pavement in very poor condition in something which locals attribute to increased heavy vehicle traffic.”
      Dr Sykes continued, “VicRoads have done an excellent job in replacing several kilometres of road pavement closer to Moyhu and this highlights the grossly unsatisfactory nature of the King Valley section.”
      Dr Sykes concluded, “I will raise the issue with the Minister for Transport, Peter Batchelor and seek his support for upgrading this important road so that locals and visitors to the area may drive safely and comfortably through the King Valley.”

Greg's comment:

The Whitfield Road surely does need an upgrade ... but it is only the tip of the iceberg. Bill Sykes and Peter Ryan might also like to look at the Benalla - Whitfield Road. The section between Myrrhee and Whitfield is one of the worst gravel roads in the upper king Valley.

This road is an enigma as, undoubtedly a Vicroads connector, it continues straight into the Boggy Creek Road whilst the gravel sectioned Benalla-Whitfield Road takes a right turn accross to Whitfield. It seems the Vicroads people have never noticed this dilemna.

The Rural City of Wangaratta, on the other hand, have assumed that this section falls under their jurisdiction as they allocated funds a couple of years ago to seal a section of it - but, of course, the money was never spent.

The Benalla - Whitfield Road is every bit as important to King Valley tourism as the Mansfield - Whitfield Road. Look what sealing the last seven kilometres of that road did for tourism in the King Valley. Connecting Benalla to Whitfield with a sealed road should do more as it is being fed by the Hume Highway.