Rebecca Paterson

Party: Independent

I live in city/suburb: Burwood

My commitment: I was pleased to be contacted by Bicycle Network to give my support to bicycle projects in Monash. My husband rides to work and uses the Gardiner's Creek Trail, and on the weekends we often ride as a family around the area, putting our daughter in the Croozer. Bicycle Network has established some very important priorities for the Monash area, and as a user of bike paths I can see the importance of all the projects,such as the Glen Waverley rail path missing link, the Ringwood to Notting Hill pipe track and linking Gardiner's Creek to Scotchman's Creek and Dandenong Creek trails. Investigating the feasibility of more Parkiteer Cages at stations and better routes to access them would help encourage more commuters to use their bikes and our public transport, rather than clogging up the roads with more cars. The Ride2School program is another important initiative to cut down road traffic and also foster an interest in activity for our youth. Monash currently spends less than many other councils on bicycle facilities. I would be interested to see detailed information about what sort of projects are getting funding over cycling, and whether the funding can/should be reviewed. I am cautious about making promises and telling you that if elected I will make sure all these things happen, as I feel that is an irresponsible thing for someone to do when they haven't even got the job yet. What I can tell you is that I do support all of these ideas, and feel that it is important to study the feasibility of allocating funding to them during the next 4 years and trying to get support from other Councillors to do so. Ideally, we would see all these projects completed by 2016, if not earlier. I look forward to having the opportunity to advocate for the needs of cyclists if elected.

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Current sitting member: no