Bright ideas flow to help ‘battlers’

Source: Wangaratta Chronicle - 22.10.08

Car exchange scheme, weather refuge for pensioners mooted

Written by JACQUIE SCHWIND.

A CAR exchange scheme and an extreme weather refuge for pensioners were two bright ideas which arose from sessions designed to give people on limited incomes a chance to have their say.

‘Coffee Shop Conversations’, three sessions organised by Upper Murray Family Care and held at Wangaratta’s Idyl Book Café last week, were attended by a variety of people taking up the opportunity to informally chat about their financial difficulties and suggest ways financial hardships in the community could be addressed.

Session co-ordinator, David Newport, said those who came for a chat were almost an equal mix of men and women.

"There were about 15 individuals and some came back again for other sessions," Mr Newport said.

"The youngest would have been round about 30 and the oldest in their early 70s.

"There were some aged pensioners, a couple in public tenancy, others who were home owners having a bit of a struggle, a couple of self-funded retirees and at least one person in business, self-employed."

Suggested at the sessions was a community-managed car exchange scheme whereby eligible people could replace old vehicles in need of costly repairs with a restored, roadworthy and registered vehicle converted to run on gas.

It was suggested the scheme could be linked to a savings program to help meet future registration, maintenance and basic insurance costs.

Mr Newport was impressed by the concept, saying for many people it was an absolute necessity to have a car available.

"We’re a very much rural area, we don’t have any public transport options and a lot of people work casual shifts and work odd times.

"It’s such a universal idea, it would be really good to see how far we can push it."

Also raised was a weather refuge for pensioners - somewhere public they could keep cool or warm in extreme weather if unable to deal with temperatures or bear the cost of keeping heaters or cooling on all day at home.

"A number of people have noticed in the Wangaratta Plaza elderly couples sitting on chairs there for hours on end.

"It would be a nice way of making life civilised for people who need a bit of consideration.

"I’m going to put some of the ideas to my agency and a couple of networks and it might be worth advocating one of them as a future project."

Mr Newport said participants’ feedback about Coffee Shop Conversations was positive and he hoped the sessions could be repeated.

"It’s quite an easy and cost-effective way of reaching people.

"They thought it was very good, they had a really good chance to have their say and they would like to do it again in the future."

People who would like to be advised of, or get involved with, any future financial hardship discussions/projects can leave their name and number with Upper Murray Family Care, 57234000.

Sykes: North East Rail upgrade

Source: Bill Sykes Media Release 1.08.08

Benefits of the recently announced upgrade of the railway line between Seymour and Wodonga could be further maximised according to Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes.

In welcoming the proposed North East Rail Upgrade in Parliament this week, Dr Sykes highlighted three issues in particular that had been brought to his attention recently by constituents.

“First is the re-opening of the Glenrowan Railway Station. Things have changed since it was closed in the 1980’s. The population of Glenrowan and the surrounding area has increased as has the need for public transport as the population ages and the cost of fuel rises.

“Glenrowan is the hub of regional tourism with Ned Kelly as the focus with other attractions such as the Warby Ranges National Park and wineries and restaurants in both the Warby Ranges and the King Valley.”

Dr Sykes referred to the investment of millions of dollars of Local, State & Federal funding in Glenrowan including further plans to spend more on the provision of reticulated water and sewerage to facilitate growth of the Glenrowan community as a place to visit and to live.

“A functional railway station at Glenrowan is obviously a key part of the future of Glenrowan, especially given the recent announcement that the State Government plans to spend $20m on the rehabilitation of the nearby Mokoan Wetlands with the expectation of attracting 300,000 people per year”, he said.

He continued, “Another issue is the need to standardise the Oaklands-Benalla Railway line. Failure to do so will result in hundreds of thousands of tons of grain being transported by roads at great cost to local roads and to the grain producers.

“My colleague, Mr Ken Jasper, Member for Murray Valley this week led a deputation which discussed this issue with staff of the Minister for Transport. The response was encouraging but much more work needs to be done.

“The third issue is the strong desire of local people at Benalla to have input into the reconfiguration of the Benalla Railway Station. Discussion between Benalla Rural City and the Department of Transport on this matter are progressing satisfactorily.”

Dr Sykes concluded, “I look forward to working with the Minister for Transport and Department of Transport staff to achieve the best possible outcomes on these issues.”