(i) Canning Bridge is the right place for Transit Oriented Development, consistent with WA’s Directions 2031.
(ii) Cassey Street bus exit component removed for now.
(iii) Manning Road South Freeway On- ramp be given Critical priority.
(iv) There is lots more work to do yet. Heights shown are not final and do not represent approval.
(v) Diagrams of building shapes are not be part of the Vision.
South Perth Council last night decided to move on with progress of our Vision for the future of Canning Bridge.
Since 2006 there have been in excess of forty events related to planning the future of the Canning Bridge Precinct. We have had mail- outs of proposals, public workshops, discussions, formal meetings, Ward events in the park, combined working groups with the City of Melville, consultants and other bodies such as the Departments of Transport, Planning, TransPerth, and other stakeholders. I acknowledge the vast amount of input, by staff, community members, Councillors and many others.
In the process we have learned of the wide range in that what individuals want from their house, their neighbourhood and their city. This includes such vital matters as shelter and safety (of course), real estate value, distance to school, ease of travel, number of bedrooms and access to shops. Also in mind were concern for the environment (local and regional), population growth, climate change, physical and emotional health and much, much more.
From the initial consultant’s model in July 2008 we have all had in mind that what we were working on was a transport problem, in a population, environmental and economic context.
Put simply, we have a city and lifestyle designed for cars. Our transport is becoming choked. We have rapid population growth. We are destroying the bush around us. It is costing us more and more, in many ways, to follow our old style of development. Change was coming over us and we were determined to make it happen our way, not to just do nothing or, worse, to be dictated to by a State Development Authority.
At the core of every conversation, and there were many of them, was the belief that our core values were around the Quality of Life for the people of South Perth. That Quality of Life was expressed in terms of social, environmental and economic measures- the triple bottom line of every conversation and debate.
Along the way we had plans with a huge roundabout over the station, tunnels under the river, a bus station over and along the train line and a bus exit up Cassey Street.
In mind were discussions around the relationships we share, our core values and our behaviour towards each other in South Perth.
While we have been busy on this project there have been many others under way around our City, such as at Wellard, Canning Central, Murdoch, Bull Creek and Burswood, in other States, such as along the Adelaide- Gawler line and in other countries. Many of our concerns are similar to those faced across the globe.
Where to now? Now that we have shown our support for this Vision, City staff and consultants will develop infrastructure plans, financial analyses and precinct building guidelines. As always in the City of South Perth, we will have lots of community participation at all stages. This way of doing business is now a major feature of how we do things around here. I appeal to everybody to stay on the bus on this journey to a future that we design and choose for ourselves
I offer tribute to the honest, intense and valued input of so many community members in so many ways. While we probably have not given every member of community the outcome they personally wanted, we certainly have listened to, noted, and responded to every word. The sum of this process is the resolution we accepted last tonight and whose text is here.
Last night South Perth Council voted to proceed with work on our Canning Bridge Vision. Text of the motion follows; please note that this is not an official Council document.
That....
(a) Council acknowledges that the Canning Bridge Precinct, because of its location and features (Freeway and Canning Highway intersection and bus and rail transfer station) is an appropriate place for Transport Oriented Development consistent with Directions 2031.
(b) Council supports the Canning Bridge Precinct Vision (the “Vision”) as the long term non-binding, non- statutory guiding document for the Canning Bridge precinct, with the following amendments and notations:
(c) the Chief Executive Officer be authorised to pursue and sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Melville outlining joint support for the Vision.
(d) the City participates in a dedicated steering group with State and local government representatives be set up to oversee the implementation of the Canning Bridge Vision.
(e) the following further technical studies be initiated to progress the development of an activity centre structure plan during 2010/11 and 2011/2012:
(f) the Western Australian Planning Commission, the City of Melville and those who made submissions on the draft Vision be advised of points (a) to (e) above.
One month to go until Sunday Oct 24, when we’ll celebrate Next Door Day. The idea is to invite your neighbours over for tea, some food, drinks, pizza, whatever, and of course conversation. Some people will do this at home and some at the park over the road. Let’s share our community and get to know each other better.
There is a Facebook group too, where you can add your comments, photos and ideas. Click on the link and go to Events (in the lower left) to join for free. You can add your photos; tell your friends to come too. Let’s do this all over Western Australia, invite your neighbours over for tea and get to know each other better.
As usual, have your word by clicking in Comments at the end this blog.
Thank you to all who attended yesterday’s Como Tea in the Park. Ninety five people turned out to speak and listen. Many others have stopped me for a chat in the street or at the shop.
One of the questions raised was about the degree of consultation held so far. Some people felt that they had not been informed of developments nor taken part in enough conversations. I’ve looked over my history list for this project and made a list of the events that I have been to myself. In addition to these there are very many events around the Vision 2030 project run by South Perth, which includes some very clear direction for what people want for Canning Highway. There were twenty three of these South Perth Vision 2030 events, plus at least three more in Council chambers or meeting room.
My diary of consultation around Canning Bridge transport and other issues includes the following events.
· 21 July 2008 Initial presentation by GHD, joint events for City of South Perth and Melville citizens, at South of Perth Yacht Club, two sessions, mid- day and evening
· 29 July 2008 Council briefing City of South Perth with GHD, councillors and staff
· 11 August 2008 Community Engagement session 1, at South Perth Senior Citizens for SP residents within the 800 metres zone
· 18 August 2008 Community Engagement session 1, at SP Senior Citizens for SP residents within the 400 metres zone
· 27 August 2008 SP Councillors and staff update with GHD
· 01 September 2008 Community Engagement session 2, at SP Senior Citizens for SP residents within the 800 metres zone
· 08 September 2008 Community Engagement session 2, at SP Senior Citizens for SP residents within the 400 metres zone
· Oct 2008 Joint presentation for Councillors of SP and Melville, at Melville Council offices
· March 2009 Joint presentation for Councillors and Officers of SP and Melville
· Sept 2009 Joint presentation for Councillors of SP and Melville
· Approx. Feb 2010 Public event at Melville Senior Citizens Centre, plus development of Canning Bridge Community FaceBook site
· Feb 2010 Letters to all owners within the precinct
· Feb 2010 Public forum, 400 attendees
· July 2010 Joint briefing with both Councils, including changes in response to consultations
In addition to these official events I have personally hosted one community forum at Olives Reserve and two in McDougall Park, all well- attended. This blog site has added a continuous flow of further information and sought public comment. There has also been one neighbourhood meeting in a resident’s house, attended by the Mayor and myself.
By my reckoning this covers at least forty consultation, listening and conversation events around the future of South Perth. My email has carried a similar heavy load. Our future has not been short of public participation. I do observe that we have had less representation from younger people and I rather think that less business people have made the time to attend.
On Tuesday 29th September the Canning Bridge Vision document will be presented for Council endorsement. On 21st September (today) there is the opportunity for public deputation about that Vision. Once that milestone is reached the Council will be able to move onto detailed planning to make our City safer and even more liveable. Such planning will include detailed built- form and streetscape guidelines, a traffic study, parking and access study and landscape design. Through this process I trust that South Perth will follow its tradition of continuous consultation. For an opportunity to speak please feel free to submit a request to Council for Deputations tonight, 21st September.
As usual, have your word by clicking in Comments at the end this blog.
Como’s Cygnet Cinema may have new life.Tonight the Council was treated to a combined presentation by renowned architect Bill Hames and representatives of the Stiles family, owners of the famous art- deco landmark.
Mr Hames’ concept design retains the original building, while adding exciting new features. The early visualisation features a refurbished main hall plus four small cinemas, a Gold Class lounge/ restaurant and an outdoor picture garden. There would also be a super- deli to the east and commercial office space at the rear.
This seems to be a tremendous way to retain the heritage building while adding economic life to Preston Street. There are many stages to go through yet before this vision becomes reality. Commercial viability would have to be assured, as would matters like parking and the myriad other concerns around town planning. Consultation with neighbours is always a feature of development in South Perth, of course, and this might bring up other concerns.
Have your say. Just click on “Comments” below and log in as Name (preferred) or Anonymous, or email me and I’ll post your comments for you. What you say makes a difference.
Perth is growing fast, threatening what we value most. Just in case we needed reminding, today’s West has three headlines about this:
A further recent headline points out that by continuing to just spread outwards we are building a dysfunctional city. Environmental damage, increased use of cars and longer distances for provision of water, power and sewerage make the outlook for Perth quite dismal.
Essentially, when we say at public meetings that we want the City to remain as it is, we do nothing and thus contribute to destroying what we love. South Perth's recent City Visioning exercise helped us describe the features that we do want in our future. The challenge now is to use this Vision to plan for a City that keeps these attributes while accommodating rapid growth.
We have a number of community forums in the near future. My hope is that we can use these to work towards what we do want in our future, not just to protest against change.
Canning Bridge area residents heard on Wednesday night about a new plan for bus movements. Increasing popularity of buses and the train service have meant that the bridge and facilities are often at maximum capacity. Buses are clogging the interchange area and the U-turn arrangements are confusing at best.
Figures show that use of public transport in Perth is growing rapidly, faster than in any other Australian city. Plans to expand Curtin Uni to thirty thousand students will create even more local demand. Freeway and city vehicle congestion continues to make public transport an even more popular option.
In a twenty- year time frame we’ll need a seriously re-planned facility here. Right now, we need a way to handle more buses. South Perth planners, working with Stage agencies, have drawn up a design to take the turn- around off the bridge. A new facility, much- used in Europe, UK and USA, known as a ‘dog- bone roundabout’ is proposed. (Here’s one from Holland.)
The proposed location of this is in the space to the north- west of the current interchange area. Buses would enter the dog- bone, drop off their passengers, turn around and then pick up new passengers on the other straight side of the loop. A short overhead walkway would connect with the rail station. All this would get pedestrians and buses safely out of the bridge interchange, a crowded area today.
The proposed vision for this goes to Council next month; it would then move to design stage for detailed planning.
We need a solution, for now and for later. Buses and trains are increasingly popular. There are way too many cars used every day. Our challenge is to plan our transport system so we don’t even think about using a car for most journeys.
The Mayor of South Perth tells me that there will be time for residents to have a say about this at Council’s briefing night on 21 September. One of my concerns would be about ease and safety of pedestrian access from both South Perth and Melville. If you’d like to contribute, how about talking with your neighbours and contacting the City in advance to get a representative on the agenda list?
Wow, didn’t that get some responses? Heaps of emails and calls about the new cycle way on Sir James Mitchell Park, with bouquets and brickbats. I also realised that I had upset the engineer who designed the path and am embarrassed that I did so. My apologies are offered right now.
I have also found that the path was intentionally designed as a “shared recreation path,” with lots of pleasant meanders, not as a transit way. This of course leaves us with the issue that hundreds of people are now using it as a transit way.
Right across Australia cities are building bike transit ways and finding them used beyond expectation. This is a tremendous outcome; every cyclist has consciously not used motor transport. We have less road congestion, less pollution, less parking needs, smaller carbon footprint. I am so happy about this.
Now, lets use the popularity of this facility to really push for completion of the Perth Bicycle Network, making a safe, efficient link to and around all points of the compass in Perth.
A reminder that on Thursday 12 August at 7 pm. Hon Lynn MacLaren MLC, Member for South Metropolitan Region and Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University and on the Board of Infrastructure Australia, will present the latest plans for light rail in our region.
You’ll be able to see examples of systems operating around the world, to see plans for the network and to talk about how to make this work for us. The event will be at the Canning Bridge Senior Citizens Centre, 64 Kishorn Road, Mt Pleasant. Just click the map to expand it. I recommend parking on the Esplanade or in the Centre car park on the river side of the building. The best road access is from the Esplanade, turning off Canning Highway beside the Shell service station. Coming from Fremantle you could turn right at the previous traffic lights by Thai Corner and that place with the Arches. There is plenty of room inside for bicycles.
I also have some discussion points around plans for redevelopment of Canning Bridge precinct, ahead of the forthcoming design presentation.
See you there from 6:30 pm on Thursday. Feel free to add your thoughts below by clicking on “Comments”
We have gone to sleep. Not even dead dolphins have caused us to blink. A few press reports of events, the odd official voice about a study somewhere. This should be a smack in the head for us all- wake up!
The world needs our care. We have the ability to preserve, or destroy this patch of paradise. To care for our country we need to make decisions, daily. To make good decisions we need good data and access to that data. Decisions without facts are probably bad decisions. What gets measured, gets managed. However, it is difficult to get to the facts around our lives.
Things are changing. I believe that it is important that we measure these changes so we know what is happening and how to respond. Today we read that the past decade was the warmest on record. If we are to respond usefully we really need to know about what else is happening, in detail
We talk about open government. We congratulate ourselves when we fill our web sites with annual reports, budgets and attractive graphics. Here in Western Australia we are just not good enough at collecting data and making it available. If I want to see how much dieldrin, or petrol, or copper is in the Swan River water, and what that level has been each year, I just can’t get it. The best I find is some PDFs or departmental reports.
However, pictures of information are not actually data. To get a time series of say the water use of my city over twenty years I have to find and open up twenty separate documents and collate the data. This is not good enough.
The USA has developed a web site called data.gov where vast amounts of data are totally open for public access. Even our national databases are available at data.australia . Here in the West we have nothing like it.
Some things we might like to know about could include:
The data is important and the time series of data sets is vital. Innovative people can use this sort of data to suggest useful ways to adapt to the changes we see and measure. By constructing ‘mash- ups’ of data sets, new insights can appear.
Let’s really live the values of open government. Let’s have the facts, out there, so we don’t have to guess what is happening!
Community members from both sides of the river and anyone interested is invited to attend a community forum on Light Rail and new developments in the Canning Bridge Precinct. We’ll meet at 7 p.m. on 12 August 2010. The venue: 64 Kishorn Rd Mt Pleasant 6153m, an easy and pleasant walk from the train or bus stations. Click the map to see more.
The event is organised by the WA Greens Party. Guest speakers will be Greens Senator Scott Ludlam and myself, Peter Best, Greens candidate for Tangney. Both of us will arrive fresh with the latest updates after a Green Transport workshop at Curtin Uni. We will also have some information from briefings about recent planning sessions between the Melville and South Perth Councils and GHD consultants.
Perth ranks bottom of the list of sustainable cities in Australia. We use our cars to drive everywhere, mainly because the city is designed that way. Our roads and parking are becoming more congested, we use more energy, we lose more time, we pollute the air. The Greens have a comprehensive policy on Sustainable Transport here.
Perth can be so much better when we keep our cars for special occasions. We will be able to do this when we live close to good, safe public transport. By changing the way we live and the way we travel we can make a difference to our lives and our planet. Light Rail is the modern version of a tram. These systems are coming into popular use around the world.
Perhaps this change is not for you personally but it certainly will suit the next generation. It is time to begin planning for these changes now. Recent Visioning programs by the Councils have made it clear what we’d like our city to be like. Now it is time to begin turning that vision into reality. Scott and I will be here to listen to your thoughts, to provide some updates and to answer your questions.
We have had quite a number of public meetings in this area. Previous meetings have been hosted by the Councils; this one is hosted by the Greens. Here’s an opportunity to keep up to date and to make sure you have your say. If you can’t make it just click on “Comments” below and log in as Name (preferred) or Anonymous, or email me and I’ll post your comments for you. What you think does matter.
Last week I attended the Climate Change Adaptation conference in Queensland. A thousand people were there, from all over the planet- Fiji, Korea, China, Bangladesh, UK, Holland, Finland, Senegal, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, USA, Canada and many other places. There were high- powered people from the IPCC, United Nations officials, researchers, doctors, field workers and community representatives. For three days we discussed some science, many reports from many places, of a changing world, and much about how people respond to this change.
A Japanese team showed the advance northward, year- by-year of a species of a mosquito that carries dengue, as Japan becomes warmer. A Canadian woman spoke of increasing deaths through cold of homeless people in cities, as increasing daily variability makes it more difficult for social services to predict temperatures. A Tunisian field officer told us about the advance of desert sands. Tim Flannery spoke eloquently, as always, of the progressive disappearance of a small, white possum, from hilltops in North Queensland. This creature has a high sensitivity to temperature changes.
A key theme was one of understanding that times are changing, of a sense sometimes that it is caused by someone else far away, sometimes of a fatalistic feeling and of a common sense of powerlessness. A further emotion was that Copenhagen had failed to unite people and nations in a course of action, that it was now up to communities to take things into their own hands. That perhaps they couldn’t change the world but that they could certainly make a difference locally. A wide range of people spoke of responses such as adapting cropping practices, changing building methods, policy development, education and most of all about community engagement.
The oft- repeated theme was that it didn’t matter how good the science was until the community connected with the issues, identified the problems and then developed and committed to solutions. By identifying a specific threat and working on a solution, communities become better connected, healthier and more resilient.
Bringing the community together through climate change adaptation addresses our policies and philosophies of Social Justice, Participatory Democracy, Peace and Sustainability. Our objectives around Climate Change, caring for people and managing water can be very much part of the way we adapt our societies to the pressures of climate change.
We can add to the focus of a low Carbon footprint, influencing lifestyle and technology choices. We can promote WA’s bountiful wind and solar assets. By introducing Adaptability we can bring on board another part of our society, those who so far have not engaged with Climate Change values.
A feature of humanity is that we are adaptable. The original inhabitants of Australia have been adapting to change for a thousand generations before us, since the last ice age allowed them to migrate overland to Australia and to all that has happened since that time.
I believe that the community can harness our ‘can do’ attitude, with focus on Adapting to Climate, to bring change to society. By focussing on opportunity we can build on the optimistic nature of Western Australians.
We can encourage people to live mindfully, to be conscious of the implications of daily decisions, as individuals and as community leaders, to join together and to make a better society.
In my own work, over many years, in school, Uni, at work, in the community, in Africa and Australia, I have always been able to bring change by motivating people in shared spirit, to think in terms of ‘we’ and of opportunity and optimism. At a Citizenship ceremony on Monday night this week such spirit was very plain among the thirty- nine new citizens; they spoke of this spirit as what attracted them to Australia.
Conscious care for the world around us is as much a part of working with community residents on the Ranford wetlands, as it is with cleaning up the Swan river banks or evaluating major development projects. Thinking about how we adapt our community to the changes we see happening takes away the politics of Climate Change and lets us make decisions in a time of uncertainty.
I hope we can invite as many people as possible to join in, to participate, in caring for all who live on this planet.
With Spring only a few months away we can begin planning our own personal land- care projects. Composting can reduce water use, raise productivity, increase soil carbon and improve the structure of soils. We can reduce reliance on purchased products, reduce waste, reduce our energy footprint and enjoy the process. Home gardening reduces food miles too.
Last week I attended a Climate Adaptation conference which reminded me of some ways that we can take personal responsibility for our own patch of the planet. (More on this coming soon)
In Perth about sixty percent of our household waste is organic. The metropolitan area generates about 1.2 million tonnes of organic waste each year, and much of this waste goes to landfill. Organic waste is a valuable resource that can be used to help improve soil quality. Organic waste can be recycled by using it as mulch, as compost, or in a worm farm.
The Dept of Environment has a web site of useful composting tips. Another really good blog site for compost tips can be found here. For even more information there is a composting course to be held soon; click here for details. There is a WA State commitment to stop burying our waste in our water supply. We can do our bit for this responsible initiative and enjoy the process too.
By the way, just about everything can be recycled in some way. Visit the RecycleIT to find out how and where to recycle specific materials.
Recycling and composting can be a family project. Feeling good about the way we live is important.
