Mayday
Mayday -are we being heard?
Our Patch
The Southern bayside suburbs of Kingston, Frankston, Mornington Peninsula Shire,
Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia are home to close to 500,000 people who by and
large share the regional environment, transport network, other essential social
infrastructure and services and the local economy.
Our Issues
Driven by the state planning scheme, Melbourne focused economic development
strategies and the ad hoc urban planning strategies of successive state governments
have delivered outcomes that see many of us facing in excess of two hours a day travel
to work.
From Mordiallioc to Pakenham and back to Point Nepean we share traffic congestion,
unreliable and dated rail infrastructure, hospitals that like our roads have been works
in progress for years but remain overburdened by the weight of unplanned population
growth which is also impacting intolerably on our environment and amenity.
We Share
We also share the state's largest landfill and half its offensive industry. We treat half
of Melbourne's sewerage and discharge it at one of Victoria's most popular ocean
beaches. Yet much of Melbourne's food is grown in our green wedges.
Across the region we are connected by our sporting, health and education networks.
We share our regional recreational destinations - our beaches, parks, flora and fauna
reserves and visionary places like Cranbourne Botanic Gardens. Our Westernport
mudflats and wetlands in Edithvale and Seaford are an internationally recognized
for migratory birds from the Arctic whilst the Penguin Parade is this country's most
popular eco tourism destination.
Why wasn't I told?
But our media service is fragmented. We don't all get the same papers and their distribution is patchy. Stories and reports critical to the region as a whole are dismissed as "sub - urban" by metropolitan editors and TV chiefs of staff for whom the world appears to end at Docklands.
While our local press does its best, by and large we are uninformed of whats going on
around us and unable to connect the dots that say "I live in Frankston. Whats
happening in Dingly, Cranbourne, Hastings and Dandenong or in the growth corridor
effects me too."
Your tips and contributions are critical to making this work.
Jim Kerin
[email protected]
Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia are home to close to 500,000 people who by and
large share the regional environment, transport network, other essential social
infrastructure and services and the local economy.
Our Issues
Driven by the state planning scheme, Melbourne focused economic development
strategies and the ad hoc urban planning strategies of successive state governments
have delivered outcomes that see many of us facing in excess of two hours a day travel
to work.
From Mordiallioc to Pakenham and back to Point Nepean we share traffic congestion,
unreliable and dated rail infrastructure, hospitals that like our roads have been works
in progress for years but remain overburdened by the weight of unplanned population
growth which is also impacting intolerably on our environment and amenity.
We Share
We also share the state's largest landfill and half its offensive industry. We treat half
of Melbourne's sewerage and discharge it at one of Victoria's most popular ocean
beaches. Yet much of Melbourne's food is grown in our green wedges.
Across the region we are connected by our sporting, health and education networks.
We share our regional recreational destinations - our beaches, parks, flora and fauna
reserves and visionary places like Cranbourne Botanic Gardens. Our Westernport
mudflats and wetlands in Edithvale and Seaford are an internationally recognized
for migratory birds from the Arctic whilst the Penguin Parade is this country's most
popular eco tourism destination.
Why wasn't I told?
But our media service is fragmented. We don't all get the same papers and their distribution is patchy. Stories and reports critical to the region as a whole are dismissed as "sub - urban" by metropolitan editors and TV chiefs of staff for whom the world appears to end at Docklands.
While our local press does its best, by and large we are uninformed of whats going on
around us and unable to connect the dots that say "I live in Frankston. Whats
happening in Dingly, Cranbourne, Hastings and Dandenong or in the growth corridor
effects me too."
Your tips and contributions are critical to making this work.
Jim Kerin
[email protected]