Ms THEOPHANOUS (Northcote): My question is to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety.
I ask the minister: what opportunities will be available for my community to provide further input and feedback on the Farm Road link to the Darebin Yarra Trail as this crucial project gets underway?
Building a direct, safe and accessible link for residents of Alphington to get onto the Darebin Yarra Trail has long been called for by locals in the area.
As the minister knows, currently residents are cut off from accessing this spectacular walking and cycling track which skirts their neighbourhood. Locals have to travel either north to enter through Ivanhoe or south via Kew East.
That is why over the last two years I’ve been working closely alongside local residents, stakeholders, VicRoads and the minister’s office to progress this project.
Throughout it has been my strong view that the voice of the community has a central role to play in contributing to the design and planning of this project.
In 2018 VicRoads undertook a range of community engagements to inform the development of plans and route options—and we set up a stakeholder reference group to assess them.
This early work was pivotal to determining that the safest, most accessible, functional and environmentally friendly route is a footbridge over Latrobe Golf Club from Farm Road.
Building the footbridge here has not been a straightforward task, but a few months ago I was able to share some exciting news with my community—with the minister’s assistance, we passed some vital legislation in the Victorian Parliament and secured the funding we need to get this project done.
After a long wait the link is funded, it is happening, and gosh we look forward to it.
As we get on with designing and building this crucial piece of local infrastructure, community feedback will continue to be vital in getting the best outcomes.
Recently I met with residents of Farm Road who offered some very valuable insights and on-the-ground knowledge of the area, how their roads are used and how to incorporate additional safety features into the future design.
As VicRoads is progressing its work to deliver this remarkable project, I’m looking forward to sharing information with my community about their future opportunities to hear more details, consider the design and convey local feedback directly to the project team.
Finally, I again thank the residents and community groups who have advocated for this link over the years and worked proactively alongside me to progress it. When it’s finished, I know it will be a wonderful asset to our suburbs.
