Letting you know about a Notice of Motion at Yarra Councils next meeting on Tuesday, 26 November 2024, from recently elected councillors about changing or removing important active transport infrastructure, e.g., walking, cycling, micro-mobility.

These issues may be of interest if you, family, friends, or colleagues reside, work, shop, or travel through Melbourne’s inner north or you have an interest in the area.

This includes Elizabeth Street protected cycling/mobility lanes, current Coppin Street consultation, Charlotte Street Pocket Park, public e-scooters and e-bikes, amongst other items.

Like many Victorian councils, Yarra is facing budgetary constraints, changing population, extra pressures and it would be a poor decision by the new group of councillors to remove public assets, and by way, make Yarra streets increasingly unsafe for everyone especially when cost of living stress, housing shortages and transport costs are impacting upon inner city residents.

Read for yourself the recent media articles calling for safer streets and better infrastructure:

Responses to Item 8.1. – Notice of Motion No.19 of 2024

Returning to next Tuesdays Yarra Council meeting, scroll down this link to the agenda pdf file, Item 8.1. – Notice of Motion No.19 of 2024 starts on page 125:

Of these 36 items contained within this omnibus motion on page 125, about 15 require further reports by December 2024 – February 2025, unfortunately with the exception of Charlotte Street Pocket Park in Richmond, which has been ear-marked in this Notice of Motion to be stopped permanently, despite construction being scheduled to commence soon.

Read below for comments in italics to active transport items (eg, walking, cycling, micro-mobility) items contained in Item 8.1. – Notice of Motion No.19 of 2024

Elizabeth Street cycle lane

  1. That a report be presented to the February 2025 Council meeting cycle to consider options and costs in relation to:
    (a) Modifying the Elizabeth St, North Richmond cycle lane to:
    (i) allow both dedicated bike lanes and parking on both sides of Elizabeth St, until Council forms an opinion on its future; and v) parking lane widths noting the curb to curb widths of Lennox St; (text continued in agenda motion)

Comment: Elizabeth Street protected lanes’ future has already been determined with a council resolution to make it permanent. Correct technical specifications have been provided previously. It’s not clear why this information is needed unless Yarra Council wishes to create alternative specifications to design protected cycling lanes that are non-compliant with either Department of Transport and Planning and AustRoads guidelines.

Coppin Street ‘bike-friendly’ pop-ups

  1. That a report be presented to the February 2025 Council meeting cycle to consider options and costs in relation to:
    (a) the removal of the ‘bike-friendly’ pop-ups in Richmond so as to modify the Coppin Street, Richmond cycle lanes to: (text continued in agenda motion)

Comment: Coppin Street is currently subject to a public consultation process. Including Coppin Street in this Notice of Motion No.19 of 2024 is completely unnecessary and lacks understanding of allowing current council public consultation to be completed with any transparency or appropriate governance.

Charlotte St Park

  1. That Council:
    (a) Determines not to proceed with the delivery of a park at Charlotte Street, ceases the current tender to construct the park and ceases any work to pursue or gazette the discontinuance of the road;
    (b) Advises the community/submitters of Council’s decision; (text continued in agenda motion)

Comment: Cancelling a tender will be costly for Yarra Council. There will be no further opportunity for the Richmond community to have a say on this.

E-scooters and E-bikes

  1. That a report be presented to the December 2024 Council meeting to include;
    (a) an update on the existing E-scooter contract and any future contract noting that:
    (i) Yarra City Council intends to ensure that geo-fencing technology is implemented by e-scooter and e-product operators to restrict users from ending their journeys on footpaths narrower than 1.5 metres within the City of Yarra; (text continued in agenda motion)

Comment: On the whole this item has merit although unsure at this point in time whether the technology is available in Australia. Council officers will have to advise on the legality and practicality.

Safety at Pedestrian Crossings

  1. That Council notes that the pedestrian crossing near the corner of Peel and Langridge Streets, Collingwood and at the north end of Nicholson St, Abbotsford near Johnston St require a street lighting review to enhance perceptions of community safety.
    That officers investigate this matter (including advice in relation to third party approvals) as a priority and that consideration of this matter be referred to the mid-year budget review in February 2025. (text continued in agenda motion)

Comment: Peel and Langridge don’t actually intersect – they are parallel. And why only these crossings? Yarra Council can take guidance from its Road Management Plan.

Climate action

  1. That a report be presented to the February 2025 Council meeting cycle outlining: (a) (b) the current state of heating in Yarra’s leisure centres and options to convert from gas heating to electric heat pump;
    the current state of the community battery in Fitzroy North;
    (c) the current state of plans to implement on-street EV charging for Yarra households. (text continued in agenda motion)

Comment: Most residents know the battery is owned and managed by Yarra Energy Foundation not Yarra Council. Yarra climate action plans are already regularly reported and are part of the current council plan. These existing plans are something new Yarra Councillors should be more aware of as there is a recent council report on this. In terms of climate action, item 34 (c) is minimal.