Moreland BUG

Phuong and Anna are helping to organise a sustainable transport rally outside the Melbourne Town Hall this coming Tuesday 16th Dec, to welcome the new Lord Mayor to his first Council meeting and let him know that we don’t support his plan to allow cars back into Swanston St. The council meeting starts at 5:30, so the rally will begin at 5pm to make sure Mr Doyle and his fellow councillors get an ear-and-eye-full of us before they head into the meeting.

During the council meeting, some councillors are planning to put forward a motion to have a range of options canvassed for Swanston St - one of which would be reopening it to cars, while others would focus on making it a bike, pedestrian and tram friendly route. It will be important for council to know that there is a loud and proud bike community that wants sustainable transport to be front and centre in the City of Melbourne, which is the purpose of the rally.

The media will be there and Jeremy Rawlins, whose wife Carolyn was killed on Swanston St earlier this year, will address the rally. Tomorrow Anna will send through a flyer (to the BUG list) that you can email round to your networks; in the meantime, just pop the date into your diary and let Anna know if you’d like to help out - we’ll need a few people on the day to act as marshalls, making sure that the rally doesn’t venture onto the tram tracks, as well as some people to hand out flyers along major cycling routes in the lead up to Tuesday.

As previously mentioned, MorelandBUG asked candidates running in the upcoming Council Elections to measure their support for cycling and thoughts on cycling issues in the Moreland area.

Below is a link to the survey with answers filled out by Moreland Council Election Candidates.

Moreland Council Election Candidates Responses (.pdf, 84KB)

Dear BUGgees,

As you would know, the Moreland Council elections will be held this Saturday, and Moreland BUG surveyed candidates ahead of the election to find out who supports cycling and who is less enthusiastic.

Attached is a press release we put out with some of the results of the survey – we had thought it was going to get a run in this week’s Leader but unfortunately it didn’t.

You will note that the inaugural ‘Wooden Spoke Booby Prize’ for least bike-friendly candidate was jointly awarded to Anthony Cianflone and Michael Andrews.

The press release outlines some of the high- and low-lights, but doesn’t give a full overview of each candidate’s position. We will aim to have this overview done by late this week, in time to help you decide how to cast your vote! In the meantime, if you have any specific questions please feel free to email me and I’ll answer as best as I can.

Cheers, Anna

Candidate Survey Media Release

Council elections are on Saturday November 29.

Bicycle Victoria has invited candidates to give their views on bicycle riding.

Here are the responses from Moreland Council candidates.

Here is the presentation (2.9 Mb PDF file) that Anna gave at last week’s AGM on what the BUG has accomplished over the last year.

At our last BUG meeting we were joined by Bill Bretherton from Human Powered, who runs the fantastic Community Cycles program out of a workshop in Brunswick East.

Bill, Joel and the Human Powered team are tireless in their pursuit to bring recycled bikes to people who need them, and it’s great to see that their story was shared with the nation on Lateline on Friday night.

To view the transcript or the video, go to:
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2008/s2387909.htm

The National Ride to Work day is on Wednesday, October 15, 2008.

Around Moreland, the following Ride to Work activities will be happening.

The City of Moreland is hosting a breakfast in the Victoria Street Mall, Coburg, from 7:30am - 9:00am.

Commuter Cycles (14 Prentice Street, Brunswick) is offering espresso coffee (with a barista and machine in for the day) fresh fruit, and bacon & egg sandwiches, plus a quick bike tune up if you need it.
When: 7am to 10am
Cost: A gold coin donation, and that you register for Ride To Work Day.

Human Powered Cycles (38 Harrison St, Brunswick East) is offering:

• 8-9am - free intro bike maintenance training
• Free puncture repair all day
• 10% off parts and accessories all day
• 5-6pm - free intro bike maintenance training
• 6-8pm - drinks and pizza with the crew… open to everyone!

BV have a comprehensive list of other community breakfasts around the city and state.

Please remember to register, as the stats of how many people ride helps bicycling advocacy (and you have a chance of winning some great prizes!).

If you haven’t ridden to work before and you are not sure where to start, have a read of Bicycle Victoria’s “Where do I start?” guide.

Hi everyone.

At last week’s Moreland BUG meeting, Peter & Claire noted a letter, in last week’s Moreland Leader, requesting feedback on how to increase the number of cyclists and their safety, in the Pascoe Vale electorate and Moreland.

You can email Ashley at amsat1@student.monash.edu.au.

More details in the attached letter (click on the thumbnail for the full version).

Here is the Moreland BUG’s submission to the draft Brunswick Structure Plan.

Massive thanks to Anna, Geoff, Paul, Katie, Peter and Clare for their contributions.

Monday 15th September is Yarra Bicycle User Group’s very first Radio show and they are broadcasting live, 10 - 10.30am on 3CR Community Radio 855 AM.

The program intends to promote urban cycling as a viable means of transport; promote Yarra’s cycling conditions; demystify cycling technology; and help reveal the diversity of cyclists around from children, to commuters, to lobbyists.

The full announcement can be read here and more information is at the 3CR website.