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Councils - Metropolitan Melbourne

Moreland City Council

Moreland draft Budget 2013/14 available for public comment

16 May 2013. Moreland Council's draft Budget 2013/14 is available for public comment until 7th June 2013, see council website here.

As a ratepayer and rider in the City of Moreland now is the time for council to hear from you if you want more funding to improve the Moreland riding environment. We encourage you to make a submission to council.

Bicycle Network's own budget submission to Moreland Council is available here.

Bicycle Network Victoria needs your membership support to continue to campaign for improving riding conditions for all riders. Become a member and receive crash cover and support, rider information and deals and help improve riding conditions.

Moreland riders - drafting council Budget 2013/14 underway

05 March 2013. As you read this Moreland City Council is preparing its draft 2013/14 Budget. The time to act is now for more bike infrastructure funding!

Last financial year council committed $4.96 per resident on bike related infrastructure.

Cycling participation in Moreland is on the increase: On census day in 2011, 3,454 people rode to work by bicycle in the municipality of Moreland. In the 2006 census, this number was 2,153. (This is a +60.43% change).

Click here to tell your Council to invest in bike infrastructure (E-mail contacts for local Council and Councillors provided) in the 2013/14 Budget, to keep up with the bike boom underway in Moreland.

As a ratepayer and rider in the City of Moreland now is the time for Council to hear from you if you want more funding to improve the Moreland riding environment.

Bicycle Network Victoria needs your membership support to continue to campaign for improving riding conditions for all riders. Become a member and receive crash cover and support, rider information and deals and help improve riding conditions.

More information can be found in the Bicycle Expenditure Index (BiXE) report.

Moreland celebrates strategy birthday

4 September 2012. The City of Moreland has re-released its bike strategy after a year of fine tuning details, and is celebrating by inviting riders on a 5km tour of the city's bike highlights.

On Sunday 23rd September from 10am – 1pm, the free, and hill-free, ride starts at Jones Park, Brunswick East (cnr Harrison and Albion Streets, Mel 30 B6 – near the Russian Orthodox Church) and wraps up at the Small Block Café, 130 Lygon Street Brunswick East, Mel 29 K9.

(Let the Council know you are coming so catering arrangements can be made)

The event visits:

Moreland's strategy emphasises making the district a great place to ride a bicycle, especially a place that is attractive and inviting for people riding for the first time, and that offers a riding experience superior to driving a car.

The new bike strategy is available for download.

Bicycle Expenditure Index (BiXE) 2012

15 November 2012. The City of Moreland’s BiXE rating for 2012 is $4.96. This is above the Middle Zone council average for 2012, which is $4.89. This is based upon council spending of $755,000 and population of 152,255.

Relevant bicycle related investment for the 2012/2013 financial year includes but is not necessarily limited to expenditure upon the following projects/programs:
• Bike path – concrete
• On-road bicycle paths
• Bicycle structures
• Signage

Additional spending sourced from external grants and funds may apply, but that is outside the scope of BiXE reporting.

The City of Moreland achieved a five-year BiXE average of $5.27. This is above the Middle Zone council five-year average for 2012, which is $5.12.

See full BiXE report available here.

See media here.

VoteBike - Local Council Elections 2012

27 October 2012. Local council elections are being held in Victoria on October 27 2012. Bicycle Network Victoria is once again running VoteBike that allows you to engage with potential candidates on local cycling issues. We will collect statements from candidates about their commitment to cycling in Moreland and publish them on the VoteBike Facebook event page for you to comment on.

Bicycle Network Victoria has identified the following key projects for the City of Moreland that need the support of local councilors: 

To view candidate statements for Moreland go to our Find a Candidate page. Or to comment on candidate statements as well as voice your support for particular local cycling projects, visit our Facebook events page for Moreland.

VoteBike allows you to have your say and make sure your vote counts for improved cycling conditions in your local area.

Council fudges figures

21 November 2011. The City of Moreland has been caught out spending dedicated bike funds to instead rebuild suburban streets that don’t have bike lanes or any other bike facilities.

Moreland allocated a total of $130,624 from its 2011-2012 bike budget towards road reconstruction on Rennie Street and Alexander Avenue in Coburg.

“The cash switch means the bike community has been misled about Moreland’s commitment to meeting the needs of bike riders in the municipality,” Bicycle Network Victoria CEO, Harry Barber, said today.

“The sum is roughly 25 per cent of the cost of the reconstruction, which involves re-sheeting, drainage and kerb and channel.

“Yet the streets have no bike facilities, and according to the capital works program in the city’s 2011-21 Bicycle Strategy, are never intended to have any bike facilities,” Mr Barber said.

Neither of these streets were mentioned in section 5.3 Proposed Engineering Works Program of the 2000 Moreland Bike Plan which preceded the 2011-22 Strategy.

The fudge was discovered by local riders who became suspicious of Moreland’s claim to be spending $775,624 on bike facilities this year.

They found the two projects where the bike budget was cross-subsidizing road reconstruction with no bike component.

The questionable bike expenditure total was published in the 2011 Bicycle Expenditure Index (BiXE), released last week by Bicycle Network. BiXE is an annual report on council bike expenditure aimed at giving councils and communities meaningful information on the level of investment in bike-specific facilities.

The amount published in BiXE 2011 was provided by Moreland and published in good faith by Bicycle Network. It originally showed Moreland had spent $5.14 per person on bike facilities, just over the minimum expenditure threshold.

This number should be $4.28 per person, based on the figure of $645,001. (The BiXE report will be amended and re-issued with the correct figures.)

Mr Barber said this level of expenditure was particularly low for a municipality which is experiencing high cycling growth rates.

“We struggle for every cent we can get to bring bike facilities closer to acceptable standards, so it is hugely disappointing to see valuable dollars syphoned off for non-bike purposes”.

Of note is that the Moreland’s 2011-21 Bicycle Strategy excludes from its bike funding program any projects that don’t meet a specific 10 point criteria (outlined on page 22). These criteria do not allow road reconstruction projects such as Rennie Street and Alexander Avenue to qualify as cycling expenditure.

Furthermore, Bicycle Network’s BiXE reporting process makes it clear to councils that only bike-specific expenditure is to be submitted for inclusion in the index.

Developers put bikes first

15 September 2011. You know the world’s changing when developers start building apartment blocks without – repeat without – car parking.

But so it is in Florence St, Brunswick, where Moreland Council has approved a five-storey 24-unit development that could be Australia’s first apartment block with multi-bedroom units not to have any car parking. Instead residents will get annual myki cards, access to 70 bike racks and the ability to use a share car parked at the front.

The development is next to the Upfield bike path, adjacent to the Anstey Railway Station and a block from the Sydney Road tram. All good reasons to go car-free.

"The idea is to create something that focusses on building a community, a community without a dependence on cars,” Simon Matthee from developer Small Giants told In the Loop.

Yarra Council is considering something conceptually similar, a proposal for 12 apartments in Rose St, Fitzroy, that will offer similar alternatives to cars, including access to 22 bike racks.

Bicycle Network Victoria's view is that these types of bike-friendly developments can only be a good thing. For too long, car parking has been a not-negotiable in residential development. The key not-negotiable now is for governments to make sure they keep pace by providing good bike riding infrastructure.

On the contrary, my dear Brunswick

29 June 2011. Riders through inner-suburban Brunswick will find it easier to get around following the installation of several contra-flow bike lanes down one way streets.

The lanes and associated signage have been installed in Prentice Street and Dunstan Avenue by the City of Moreland.

Contra-flow lanes are welcome innovation and have worked well wherever they are installed. Yet there are few of them in Melbourne thus far.

There are many one way streets in Australian cities and towns that were originally installed for traffic management and traffic calming reasons, often in 'rat run' locations.

These routes are often preferred cycling routes, being direct and fast, and riders often continue to ride them against the flow.

Because there is usually room for a one way bike lane in the opposite direction to the traffic, it makes great sense to add official contra-flow bike lanes.

Moreland says these changes deliver on a commitment in the 2000 Bike Plan to make to make one-way streets 'bicycle friendly'.

In Prentice Street it will improve access for cyclists wishing to travel to local businesses such as Commuter Cycles or the Victoria Hotel and in Dunstan Avenue the lane will provides an alternative to using Holmes Street if heading north between Albion Street and Moreland Road.

Backyards for bikes

10 February 2011. The Mayor of the Melbourne municipality of Moreland wants to get rid of the lovely laneways that thousands of riders use to get bikes into their backyards.

Cr. Oscar Yildiz has stated that the laneways could be sold off to residents to give them an "extra bit of backyard."

The councillor has clearly recognised that the lanes are infrequently used these days for car access to garages. But how could he have missed the fact that they are now used for access by bikes?

Moreland is in Melbourne's inner north and bike use is burgeoning. Sheds in the backyard house many a family's bike collection.

They might have to stay there if Cr Yildiz gets his way.

He says if most of the council's 109 kilometres of laneway was sold off, the council's maintenance budget could be cut by $5.5M a year, freeing up money for community programs.

Presumably these are programs you would be expected to travel to by car.

Currently, the sale of any laneway in Moreland is banned if it is used by cars, cyclists and pedestrians.

Moreland bike strategy input

10 November 2010. The City of Moreland is seeking rider comment on its draft 2010 Bicycle Strategy.

The new strategy has as its vision: "To make the City of Moreland a great place to ride a bicycle - a place where new cyclists feel safe and the experience of riding is superior to driving a car."

It  provides a detailed outline of how Council, working in partnership with the community and other agencies, will work to make this vision real over the next 10 years.

The document also identifies priority works that will make riding in Moreland more comfortable and more popular. It was developed in consultation with the community, using feedback from consultation events and comments from the Bicycle Advisory Committee.

Some initiatives in the strategy include: Community engagement and social marketing activities to make cycling attractive to a wider range of people;
Safety Audits for all existing shared paths; and upgrades including lighting to the Upfield Path.

New bicycle routes linking Glenroy to Coburg, Broadmeadows and the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail are proposed.

Comments and feedback due by Wednesday 1 December.

Where the rubber hits the road

2 September 2010. A new method of keeping cars out of the bike lane , a raised rubber separator, is being trialled in Glenlyon Road, Brunswick.

Moreland City Council, in conjunction with Saferoads, has installed the lane separator on parts of Glenlyon Road and Dawson Street, near Sydney Road, Brunswick.

The device has been designed to be as safe for cyclists as possible while still acting as a deterrent to vehicles from crossing into the lane.

The council will be monitoring the effectiveness of the separators, and is interested in obtaining the opinion of cyclists on the treatment.

Email feedback to council and Bicycle Network Victoria.

BiXE 2009: City of Moreland

Moreland City Council has a BiXE 2009 of $6.39. Moreland is above average compared to other ‘Middle’ councils where the average BiXE 2009 was $5.95. This result shows Moreland continued to improve compared to 2008 with a BiXE of $5.63. Moreland has a 3 year BiXE average of $4.49.

Moreland City Council has opportunities to invest these funds into cycling infrastructure such as:
• Completing the O’Hea Street path from Creek-to-Creek
• Continual improvement along the Merri Creek Trail
• Continual improvement along the Upfield Path
• Extending the northern extent of these two paths
• Clearway lanes on Sydney Road.

 

BiXE win for Moreland Council

29 July 2008 Our campaign to get Moreland City to spend more on bike infrastructure has been successful - thanks to the efforts of local riders and Bicycle Network Victoria members.

 

Last Monday night the draft budget was up for approval, and as a result of the campaign, the council’s previous limited effort was reversed.

The proposed 2008/09 budget for bicycle infrastructure will now be equivalent to $5.00 per resident—the amount recommended by Bicycle Network Victoria’s BIXE index. Previously the council had proposed just $2.50 per resident.

Our congratulations go to the many people who wrote, phoned, or met with their councillors to put the case for more generous spending on bike infrastructure. This is a big win.

Moreland councillors, by voting positively, have shown commendable judgement and have positioned the City to get more people riding more often. It will be important over the coming weeks and months to ensure that the funds are spent effectively on the high priority projects.

A better bike budget for Moreland - the short version

20 June 2008 We are asking members, friends and residents of Moreland to write to their Councillors about the Council budget that is under consideration. If you would like Council to double their spending on bikes from around $2.50 per person to our recommended rate of $5 per head, please send a positive note to your Councillors describing the sort of riding you do or would like to do in Moreland and ask them to vote for a bicycle budget of $660 000. 

North west ward

North east ward

South ward

See map on the right to select your ward.

You can attend the Council submission hearing on Wednesday 2 July. See below.

Please pass this link onto other people you know in Moreland.

The longer version


We are working with the Moreland BUG on a campaign to get $5 per resident of council funds spent on cycling.

For a number of years Moreland has had a small bike budget. They have consistently spent less than was recommended in the Moreland Bicycle Strategy. As a result bike riding has not grown as much as it could.

There is no doubt that residents want to ride, the number of residents pedalling to work has more than doubled since 2001. Imagine what it would have jumped to if the Council had been energetically supporting riding.

Last year the Council spent $200 000, or $1.45 per head, well below most other councils.  Currently Moreland have prepared a draft budget that would spend around $345 000 or around $2.50 per person on cycling.  You can view this proposal here.

This proposed budget is still is only half of the amount we think should be allocated to bikes.

We are supporting a bicycle budget of $660 000 ($4.70 per head)

This will allow Moreland to
•    Improve existing on road routes with green paint, rumble lines and separation.
•    Establish routes on roads such as Sydney Rd, Lygon St, Nicholson St, Melville Rd, and the Grantham St/Pearson St connection
•    Fix up existing paths such as Upfield by implementing the recommendations of the Moreland BUG audits.
•    Establish new links such as linking the Upfield Shared Path and the Merri Creek trail to the Ring Road. Extending the O’Hea project through Pentridge to the Merri Creek and west towards the Moonee Ponds Creek.
•    Investigate and implement improvements to east-west cycling infrastructure.
•    Increase bike parking facilities around Moreland

How do we convince the Council to vote for a bigger bike budget?


On 11 June at the Council meeting Councillor Andrea Sharam proposed an amendment to the draft budget to increase cycling expenditure by almost $300,000 to bring it in line with the $5 per resident benchmark that Bicycle Network Victoria recommends.

Four councillors voted in support of the amendment (Crs Alice Pryor, Mark Higginbotham, Andrea Sharam and Jo Connellan) and four voted against (Crs Daniel De Lorenzis, Milad El Halabi, John Kavanagh and Mark O’Brien). Councillors Kathleen Matthews-Ward and Anthony Helou were absent. This left Mayor Joe Caputo with the casting vote; he abstained from voting which meant the amendment didn’t go through.

We are asking for your support for the Sharam amendment. You can do this in two ways.

First send a positive email to the Councillors describing the sort of riding you do or would like to do in Moreland and ask them to vote for a bicycle budget of $660 000.

North west ward

North east ward

South ward

See map at right for wards.


Second attend the submission hearing on Wednesday 2 July 2008 at the Municipal offices, Bell Street Coburg commencing at 6pm.  The Moreland Councillors appreciate people coming to meetings. In their mind it adds great weight to the campaign.  So please come along if you can make it. 

Local riders from the Moreland BUG are planning to meet for a bite and (touch wood) celebratory bubbles after the meeting.

 

Cyclovia Sydney Rd - Tour de Moreland – Sunday 13 April 2008

Mar 2008 The City of Moreland have asked Bicycle Network Victoria to help them with their preparations for Cyclovia on 13 April 2008. Initially they are asking for volunteers to help make the day a success.

Last time was great fun and the volunteer feedback was that people enjoyed hosting a unique event. It's not often you see so many kids riding and rollerblading up and down Sydney Road!

If you can help by volunteering for 3 to 4 hours on 13 April 2008 between 8am and 2pm you can register here.

City of Moreland will provide training, insurance, lunch and a post-event celebration. You must be available to attend a one hour briefing on:

Click 'Email me updates' (above) to be kept informed as more information becomes available.

Coburg Principal Activity Centre Study

City of Moreland, through consultants GTA, have recently requested Bicycle Network Victoria feedback on the public transport interchange/services and pedestrian and cyclist linkages to/through the Coburg Principal Activity Centre.

In terms of commuters, Gaffney St (Shared Parking / BikeLane) is the main East-West link on the PBN, with Sydney Road (Wide Kerbside Lane) the main North-South route. There is also the Upfield Bike Path, which runs North-South meeting the Capital City Trail at Royal Park.

The main issue with the Upfield Bike Path is the number of crossing points along the route and the fact that it is disjointed in many locations;

With the local street network really lending itself to shorter bike trips, there would be an excellent opportunity to get people riding to the station, and then commuting by train into town.

The focus then would be on Bike Parking Facilities, where a secure, covered facility could be of enormous benefit. O'Hea Street, where a second generation (separated)path is proposed, as well as Victoria and Munro / HardingStreets would provide excellent feeders to the station and activity centre with good bike facilities in a slower speed environment.

Recreationally, The Merri Creek Path is around 1km away from the Coburg Railway Station. It appears that local lanes have been built which almost link Bell St with the Merri Ck path. An established safe link would also bring activity to the area. Bell Street may currently be a deterrent to cyclists.

Moreland Council election – Candidate survey

At the end of October 2004 the Brunswick and Coburg Bicycle User Groups wrote to all thirty candidates in the Moreland Council elections seeking their support for the completion of the Upfield Bicycle Path.

The letter stressed that this would be one way of getting more people to ride more often and so reduce excessive use of cars and at the same time improve their health and well being.

There is majority support for the project from elected councillors. Responses from elected councillors were:

North-East Ward:

North-West Ward:

South Ward:

O'Hea St, Coburg

Aug 04 Plans are being developed for a trial bike facility on O'Hea St, Coburg. With a planned reconstruction of the roadway, there is an opportunity to develop a high quality 2-way bike path in the road reserve (with a separate footpath running parallel) which would have right-of-way over intersecting roads.

The path will connect to the Moonee Ponds Creek path in the west and the Merri Ck path in the east and will provide a link for 6 schools and the new housing estate at Pentridge.

Priorities

Main Road priorities in Moreland are: