YarraBUG September-October News
Yarra BUG Membership
YarraBUG Meeting
Yarra Council Bicycle Advisory Committee Meeting
Yarra Ride to Work Day
Bicycling Australia Show
Local Issues in Yarra
Free events hosted by City of Yarra
City of Melbourne: Draft Bicycle Plan
Melbourne Fringe Festival: Autogeddon
Cycling in the news
New - Yarra BUG Membership!
YarraBUG now has membership so you can help our hard work going! Membership will help pay for our general administration costs, such as the Clifton Hill PO Box, mail costs, the Bicycling Australia stall and contributing towards to eventually gaining BUG ride insurance. For the last couple of years, all of YarraBUG’s running costs have been paid by some *very nice people* paying costs out of their own pockets.
Membership:
Single $10 per annum $20 for two years,
Concession $5 per annum $10 for two years,
Family $15 per annum $25 for two years.
Click here for YarraBUG pdf membership form. If you cannot open this file, or require a Word/text version, just email us & we’ll provide a copy.
With each YarraBUG membership you’ll receive a “goodie bag” jam-packed with cycling information, including a YarraBUG membership card, YarraBUG stickers, the brand spankin’ new Yarra TravelSmart maps, and six Cycling Promotion Fund cycling guides. Sounds good? Well there’s even more, including up to 10% discount on parts at Peter Moore’s Abbotsford Cycles upon presentation of your YarraBUG membership card. So get to it, join today!
YarraBUG Meeting
Our next meeting is at 7.30pm Tuesday 17 October at Suede Bar, 284 Smith Street, Collingwood. All welcome for a friendly chat about cycling issues in Yarra, a yummy meal and beverage.
Yarra Council Bicycle Advisory Committee Meeting
The next Yarra BAC meeting is Wednesday 18 October, Richmond Town Hall, 6.30pm. Please feel free to attend. If you want to know in detail what Yarra Council are doing for local cycling infrastructure, read the Network Progress Report’s in each BAC Agenda. If you have agenda items to suggest, please contact Richard Smithers, Yarra Transport Coordinator, Ph: 9205 5739, Email: smitherrATyarracity.vic.gov.au
Yarra Ride to Work Day - 7:30am – 9:00am Wednesday 4th October 2006
YarraBUG are having a table at the local Ride to Work Day activities this coming Wednesday morning. Can you spare a few hours in the morning to help out? Please call Chris or Steve on 0407 467 825 / 0439 600 350, PS: there’s free coffee in it for you!
Where: Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre, Victoria Street, and Richmond. Free coffee and breakfast, free bike maintenance, police with engraving Tools, giveaways and prizes from Victoria Gardens stores, prizes from Crumpler bags, Yarra Leisure prizes, hairdressers fixing ‘helmet hair’. Please go to www.ride2work.com.au to register your participation in Ride to Work Day. For more information call 9205 5555 or visit www.yarracity.vic.gov.au
Bicycling Australia Show
YarraBUG are having a shared BUG stall at the show with our mates from BanyuleBUG, BoroondaraBUG, MazzaBUG, MelbourneBUG, MitchellBUG, MorelandBUG and NillumBUG. The stalls are B3 and B4; we’ll be on the immediate right when entering from the Nicholson Street entrance. So please come along, say hello to all the BUG’s or even consider volunteering some time on our stall.
Bicycling Australia Show - Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th October 2006. Opening Times: 10am - 5pm. Where: The Royal Exhibition Building. Cost: $15 adults /$10 concession (children under 10 free)
Local Issues in Yarra
RACV’s 2006 Red Spot survey for motorists proved several things that Yarra’s cyclists have also known for ages, that the St Georges Road roundabout (North Fitzroy/Northcote) and the Chandler Highway Bridge (Alphington) seriously require attention to create a safer shared environment for all road users. YarraBUG is considering a long-term campaign and making submissions on these issues. If you would like to contribute, please contact us.
Free events hosted by City of Yarra
From the CoY site: Council kick-started this series of environmental events by hosting a Peak Oil Seminar in August, which addressed the challenging issue of the world’s diminishing oil supply and attracted over 230 visitors. Following on from the high attendance at this event, Yarra City Council is anticipating strong community support for the upcoming program and encourages people of all ages to come along and learn how easy it is to make small behavioural changes that can have large positive impacts on the local and global environment.
“Don’t reinvent the wheel”, lessons from Europe and North America for sustainable transport planning by Susie Strain (Metropolitan Transport Forum) and Chris Loader (Bus Association Victoria). Monday 16 October, 6.00pm - 8.00pm at the Richmond Town Hall.
“The Power of Community” - How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (DVD 53 minutes) kindly provided by local resident Glenda Lindsay - www.communitysolution.org/cuba. Monday 30 October, starting at 6.00pm at the Richmond Town Hall.
“End of Suburbia” - Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream (DVD 78 minutes) - www.endofsuburbia.com Monday 20 November, starting at 6.00pm at the Richmond Town Hall.
City of Melbourne: Draft Bicycle Plan 2007 - 2011
The City of Melbourne has produced a draft Bicycle Plan 2007-2011 and is inviting public feedback on the plan until Friday, 17 November 2006. The draft Bicycle Plan 2007-2011 lists the improvements to the on-road and off-road bicycle network that have been made in the past five years. The plan details physical improvements to bicycle routes designed to improve safety, way-finding and connectivity. It commits the City of Melbourne to an education campaign directed at motoristsand cyclists that focuses on making cycling safer.
Melbourne Fringe Festival: Autogeddon
A category 5 cyclone is in your neighbourhood. You’ve crashed your car. Petrol is $10 a litre and you need to somehow fetch your kids from school. This is your Autogeddon, a fun filled dark adventure to the end of your world. At Northcote Town Hall West Wing - Studio 1189 High Street (via Westbourne Gve) Northcote (Melways 30 E9) Until October 17.
Cycling in the news
For more local and international cycling articles, read Wheels of Justice for cycling issues creating discussion in the media.
US: Raise The Hammer - Can the Bicycle Save Civilization? The lowly bicycle could be a key to our long-term survival. - 20 September 2006
Thanks to the triumph of motorized vehicles over the past century, North Americans, who constitute some five percent of the world’s population, consume fully a quarter of the world’s energy. The sprawl built environment that grew out of car use is the most wasteful arrangement in history, swallowing energy, materials, and farmland at a breathtaking rate. (More in link)