Council calls for commitment to a liveable Whittlesea

The City of Whittlesea is calling on all local politicians to commit to providing residents with access to the same essential services and infrastructure as their inner Melbourne counterparts.

Council has launched ‘A Liveable Whittlesea’ in the lead up to the November State election asking political parties to commit to making the municipality more liveable by investing in roads, housing, schools and public transport and making simple gambling reforms. 

“People move to the City of Whittlesea with the hope of creating a better life for themselves and their family. But we have more than 8,000 new residents each year and the essential services and infrastructure our community needs are stretched and unable to keep up with this unprecedented level of growth,” Mayor Kris Pavlidis said.

“Our residents have the right to fair policies for population growth and development that enable our new and established communities to thrive.

 'A Liveable Whittlesea’ calls for commitments in four areas:

 Road improvements to bring the struggling road network up to pace with the growing community. Proposed improvements include:

•  Duplicating and upgrading:
• Craigieburn Road East, between Epping Road and the Hume Freeway, Epping North/Wollert
• Findon Road, between Epping Road and Plenty Road, Epping/South Morang

• Extending the proposed upgrades to:

• Bridge Inn Road, between Plenty Road and Wellington Street, Mernda
• Epping Road, Bridge Inn Road and Craigieburn Road, Wollert

• Constructing the E6 Freeway earlier.

Liveability improvements to give residents access to essential services, infrastructure, affordable housing and local jobs. Key local projects are:

• Building Edgars Creek Primary School by 2022
• Affordable housing in the Plenty Valley Activity Centre
• A Mernda health and wellbeing hub that will place essential community services and local jobs in the heart of Mernda Town Centre.

Public Transport improvements to better connect local communities. Key projects are:

• A ten minute premium bus service from Lalor station to Craigieburn Town Centre via Epping North and Wollert
• Extending the metropolitan train line from Lalor to Wollert within 10 years as part of Melbourne Metro 2
• Extending Tram Route 86.

Action on pokies

Council is calling for simple changes to poker machine regulation to reduce the horrendous poker machine losses that local residents suffer, including:

• $1 maximum bets
• fewer machines (revoking the recent increase allowed in poker machine numbers)
• reducing operating hours
• redesigning poker machines to reduce their harmful, deceptive and addictive nature.

 “Working together, all levels of government can make the City of Whittlesea a place where people and their families are connected, businesses prosper and our natural landscape is cherished,” Cr Pavlidis said.