Vox Populi Vox Dei ???

Vox Populi Vox Dei ???
A hundred emails sent to local residents seeking support resulted in 1 (one) person signing the online petition.  Funny as the emails were sent to people I have seen very often forced on the road by cars parked on the footpaths.
I did really believe that the case was obvious. It looks like the concept of community will differ between members and depend on whose community it is :  a community of 4 wheel drive owners, builders, renovators ets. Emails sent to the former Pinemont kinder committee (my son attended the kinder a year ago) remained unanswered.
Wladek “The Baptist” from my son’s school expressed enormous surprise that anyone
would really bother with issues like that and even suspected some ulterior motives.

I would like to dedicate to him a poem written by Niemöller

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.

Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.

Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.

Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestierte.

Which translates roughly :

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for me,
There was no one left to protest.

Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller (January 14, 1892 – March 6, 1984) was a prominent German theologian and Lutheran pastor.
 

Petition to the Council

Provide safe walking streets in Maroondah!

The petitioners whose names, addresses and signatures appear hereunder petition the Maroondah City Council as follows:

 

We, the undersigned request the Maroondah City Council to provide us with a safe walking environment on the local streets by enforcing nature strip/footpath parking laws, enforcing building materials storage regulations and immediate removal of existing dangerous footpaths obstructions.

We demand more frequent inspections of our streets by Council inspectors and by-laws officers.

We seek an immediate undertaking in writing from the Council to implement an effective and efficient education and enforcement program for the local residents to be followed by regular audits.

You can sign the petition online:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/maroondah-city-council-safe-walking-streets.html

 

Note to “supporters”.

Dear Supporters,

TELL Maroondah Council it is time for action to make our streets safe for walkers.

 

Were you or your children forced to step on the road because your footpath was blocked by a parked car, a pile of building materials, dumped rubbish? Have your council planted trees in the middle of your footpath?  Well, there are laws, regulations and Australian Standards governing these issues. We are hoping to get your support in this case which affects the local community in the area governed by the Maroondah City Council. It concerns pedestrian safety issues and the council’s inability to provide a safe walking environment by enforcing the most basic laws governing nature strip, footpath and driveway car parking, dumping and storing of building materials on local footpaths and ignoring dangerous obstructions installed in the middle of footpaths.  I have seen little children and families forced to step on the road to bypass cars parked in the middle of footpaths or nature strips. We are tired of avoiding cars parked on the footpaths. We are tired of builders using the footpaths to store their building materials in total disregard of our (pedestrians) safety especially around the local kinder or school. There is no excuse for those practices. It is our basic right to use the footpaths for our convenience and it is totally illegal for a car to be parked there.  You can find more details about the case on www.valdek.wordpress.com where I have tried to record the lengthy dealings with the council to provide us with a safe walking environment. If you agree with the issue please support us by putting your name on our petition to the council to resolve the matter immediately in a manner acceptable to all of us by instructing the owners of illegally parked cars about their legal responsibilities and the possible dangers of the practice, by inspecting the local building / renovation sites and encouraging the involved residents/builders to provide secure and safe access to the adjacent footpaths. We want our Council to inspect footpaths in the area and eliminate dangerous obstructions.  If you know other local residents who could share our views and provide us with their support please pass this info further and collect as many names as possible. You can sign the petition online:

 http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/maroondah-city-council-safe-walking-streets.html

Cheers and thanks,

Meetings the practical alternative to work.

We need more foot soldiers. Council meeting.

22/04/2008 08:10:23 PM

3 months since the first email sent to the council asking them to enforce a simple parking law and maybe educate some locals to be more considerate  with their cars and remember that there are other people wanting to use the footpaths in a safe manner. Did I mention the steel rods in the middle of the footpaths waiting for somebody to step on them?  I propose to change the street name from Hygeia to Vlad the Impaler  Parade.  Count Dracula (Vlad the Impaler) was famous for impaling his opponents on similar stakes. Nice place after dark could be a local tourist attraction too.

So I decided to visit the Council personally and Monday 21st was the Council meeting day. It started after a dinner for the councillors and the Corporate Management Team. Lobsters and champagne I presume judging by the smiling faces. To keep it short, the councillors and staff members made quite a positive impression on me, a very eloquent lot. They dealt with a great number of important issues like should there be 3 wards or 7, nine councillors over 3 wards or seven councillors over seven wards etc. After the meeting I had occasion to talk to some of the councillors – Alex Makin and Natalie Thomas. They were very supportive and agreed that “something” should be done. I even had occasion to talk to the director of corporate services Marianne Di  Giallonardo who I believe is in charge of local laws and numerous other duties, I say I believe as she made an impression that there are more important issues in the corporate world.

 I am starting to believe that walking is just a nuisance merely tolerated in the beautiful world of motorised residents of Loughnan Hill.

So we have a stalemate. The cars are still parked on the footpaths (nature strips are footpaths in Loughnan Hill area), the pedestrians are forced to step on the road, recently I saw families walking like ducks around parked cars in Montalbo Rd. Additionally the local builders and renovators dump their waste materials on the footpaths cutting them off from the pedestrian traffic. The steel rods I mentioned before will probably flower pretty soon. The journalists from Maroondah Leader and Journal were present during the meeting, but they made the impression of being more concerned with corporate issues.

We have to regroup and find reinforcements. We need more foot soldiers.

 

The Walking Class Heroes. Long live pedestrians!

12/03/2008 08:02:15 PM

 

The day of the battle. We send foot soldiers first. The canons are on the flanks.

8:57am – email send to CEO of the Maroondah City Council with copies send to Pedestrian Council, Maroondah Journal, Maroondah Leader and Ratepayers Victoria :

Dear Michael, There was recently an article in Maroondah Journal about people leaving their hard rubbish on the footpaths for months at a time. Of course one could wonder how is it possible that rubbish can remain on the streets for months before anyone notices it and there is a reaction? Why am I writing about it? Well, I have noticed something else. Since moving to Loughnan Hill area (several years ago) I have noticed many cars parked on nature strips and footpaths and no visible reaction from the council or anyone else. I have even started to wonder if there is a law governing the issue. Well, there is and it is illegal to park cars that way. It is quite dangerous to pedestrians, it forces them onto the road, it damages the soft surface often creating a very ugly landscape, it damages underground cables, pipes and access covers. More than a month ago I requested information from the Maroondah Council about its nature strips parking policies. For a long time there was no response. Eventually the matter was directed to a local traffic controller, wow.I have discussed the issue with Alex Makin the councillor for this area and got him interested but after his initial enthusiasm the matter still remains unresolved.You can find more information about the progress on my website www.valdek.wordpress.com. There is more to it, you will find council claims about street inspections, safety and big plans for the future but on the other hand steel bars installed in the middle of footpaths (corner Hygeia Pde and Loughnan Rd) or building materials blocking your way, and these are on footpaths around the local kindergarten and primary school. Do I have to mention possibility of a legal suit for damages in case of somebody accidentally stepping on those steel rods. That could affect the council budget even further and eventually ours too. I took those pictures after being told that the problem is non existent. They are there not to dob on the involved residents but to indicate that the issue is present and totally ignored by local government which leaves one curious about its state. I have received numerous supportive letters from Pedestrian Council Australia and some pictures of accidents which happened in similar circumstances. One of the pictures came with the following caption “Penalties for obstructing a footpath are a joke and most Councils refuse to enforce these laws in fear of upsetting voters”. If this is the case what is next? There must be council employees whose responsibility is to make sure that our streets are safe. They should be asked why nothing has been done and maybe replaced with somebody more efficient. It is time that we received a service we pay for and made the area really clean, livable and safe for our kids. Regards,

 

9:09 am - received positive email from the CEO –  Thank you for bringing these matters to our attention, etc . 

9:22 am – the artillery – supportive email from Harold from Pedestrian Council addressed to the CEO and the rest of us with some legal advice but clearly stating that we don’t seek confrontation:

 

We seek an immediate undertaking in writing from you to implement an enforcement program which is: 1 Accountable 2 Transparent 3 Effective and Efficient       4 Benchmarked and regularly Audited. 5 Fair and Equitable

What we don’t want to hear is the standard trilogy of excuses:

1 Discretion

2 Resources

3 Priorities

Behaviour which is evident from the photos provided only occurs when the “responsible” authorities permit such behaviour through a long-term program of minimal or non-enforcement.  The old axiom:  “Non enforcement of the law encourages its disobedience” could not be more evident than in the illustrations provided in the photographs.

Quite frankly, you should be ashamed of yourselves that you have allowed this culture to prevail.

How on earth do you expect people to walk when you encourage car-dependency to take over the sovereignty of the footpath.  Especially when we now live in a society where we are experiencing an obesity epidemic and are expected to be fatter than the Americans by 2020:  much in part due to the fact that we’ve stopped walking.

We certainly hope we do not have to take this matter to the Police, relevant Ministers, the Ombudsman and the media.  But please be assured we will do so without hesitation, unless we receive written undertakings within a reasonable period of time and begin to see measured result within a short time thereafter.

Thank you. Regards

My comment:  WOW, very motivational and well written. 

14:05 pm – phone call from Danica Harris from Maroondah Journal, the same lady who wrote the article about hard waste on nature strips. She is intersested in expanding the subject and include cars and steel rods in it. Excellent.

14:24 pm – phone call from Julia from Maroondah Leader. Well, we are becoming famous. Again the paper seems interested in presenting the matter to the public. Very well , it is the best opportunity to publicise the issue and solve the problem. 

14:51pm – Alex comments on our post:  ”One school one kindergarten morning slalom.”

14:56 pm – Alex comments on our post:  ”We welcome Alex to our blog.”

Alex is the local councillor and the posts were created almost a month ago.

Thanks Alex.

 

 

Tragic accident in Sydney.

01/03/2008 09:45:11 PM

The pictures below were supplied by Harold from Pedestrian Council of Australia. I think they need no comments. No changes on the parking scene.

No comments needed.

 

 

Heavy artillery.

26/02/2008 06:35:16 PM

No changes on the parking scene but the heavy artillery is coming. I have just received supportive email from Harold Scruby, Chairman of the Pedestrian Council of Australia Limited.

One school one kindergarten morning slalom.

24/02/2008 01:22:16PM

 

The pictures from the previous post were taken this morning during my walk through Montalbo Rd, Aurum Crescent, Hygeia Pde. On my way I passed one primary school (the wood chips pile just in front of the school entry, has been there for a month or so) and a local kindergarten. Around 20 cars blocking pedestrians. Congratulations Maroondah Council. I just discovered an article in Maroondah Journal by Danica Harris :

“Maroondah nature strips are increasingly becoming dumping grounds for household waste.” It does not keep the area looking clean and neat when hard waste is left out for months at a time“  more  

Another article from 2005 : Alice Springs, Cairns and Perth were among destinations visited by Maroondah councillors and staff who notched up $100,412 in travel expenses in the past three years. More

 

WE INVITE THE COUNCIL STAFF AND COUNCILLORS TO VISIT LOUGHNAN HILL FOR A CHANGE.

 

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