Safer bike paths and alternative transport methods

Bike and walking paths are great for individual wellbeing. Being outdoors instead of cramped in a car in traffic is wonderful for your mind and body.

Preserve and enhance urban biodiversity for ecosystem health and community benefit. All developers be required to provide space for plants.

Buildings with no street set backs, internal common area courtyards or where the built structure occupies the whole site exclude the possibility of plantings. The proposed ACU development in Fitzroy is a case in point. The City of Yarra has a very good street tree policy. It should be complemented by laws which require all new private renovations and developments to add to the richness of urban biodiversity by providing adequate space for greening.Council could provide a free design service to…

Reduce on-street parking

Yarra has a very limited supply of public land, yet allows vast amounts of it to be used for private vehicle storage. This land could be better used to build separated bike lanes to promote active transport and activate streets to the benefit of all users. Also, more streets could be converted to pocket parks - such as Mater St to the east of Wellington St.

More Parkland--better health and wellbeing outcomes

Close Rae Street and Brunswick Street North, North Fitzroy @ the linear park. This will improve livability and amenity for local residents and visitors by removing rat-running motorists: making it safer for people walking and bike riding along the Capital City Trail, especially children walking to and from school and will add around 1000 square metres of extra green space.

Waterpark play area for children at Gahan's reserve, Collingwood Football Oval, Darling Gardens, Edinburgh Gardens or Quarry's park.

Provide LATM Studies that work and does not play lip services to residents complaints and issues

The recent Balmain LATM was generally a woeful process and appears to be a Council statistical exercise to install speed humps whether required or not, whereby residents traffic and road safety concerns raised in questionnaires and by local representatives were generally ignored and the issues not dealt with. As a result conflict, safety, amenity, speeding, harassment, rat-running has increased in local roads, and Council's Manager Engineering Services does not appear to recognise residential…

Make side streets and local collector street crossings more pedestrian friendly.

"Pedestrian roundabouts" in ALL residential streets

Roundabouts have historically been put in place as a traffic calming device in residential areas (e.g. all along east end of Highett Street), but road rules at roundabouts give ZERO rights to pedestrians and many cars go flying through them. To make streets more pedestrian friendly and safe for everyone, I suggest ALL roundabouts in Yarra in streets where the default speed limit is 50kph or less be converted to what I'll call pedestrian roundabouts (where there are pedestrian crossings across…

Revise parking policies

Minimum parking requirements are making the roads more dangerous and less effective. They are embedding driving as the only viable option for many residents and work counter to almost all of councils priorities. As an example, mid-block crossings introduced by developments make it more dangerous for people walking and cycling. They add significant cost to the dwellings in Yarra, and further preclude affordable housing from existing. Developers need to build larger developments, and thus…

Introduce filtered permeability

Rat-running is becoming a major issue with non-residents in particular using local streets as shortcuts to avoid congestion. Local residential streets should be designed for access-only to residential properties and become no-through roads, thus: - reducing traffic - making the street safe for children and elderly (and everyone not in a car) - making the street accessible for walking and cycling - reducing noise and air pollution - reducing council expenditure on ineffective road…

Community health & wellbeing will benefit from a medically supervised injecting centre in Victoria Street precinct

The current health and wellbeing risks to the North Richmond/Abbotsford residents are escalating in the face of increasing and normalised public drug dealing and using. It is a fact that it is getting worse. The syringes, blood-stained swabs, associated litter and human waste in our residential laneways is already impacting on the community's health and wellbeing. It will only get worse when CCTVs are installed in Victoria Street in in 2017 "to give a perception of safety"!!. Who cares about…

Actively manage traffic to reduce air pollution

Animal Management

Yarra collects circa $500k from pet registrations via the Domestic Animal Act and regulations to promote responsible pet ownership. Our pets are part of our family - move Animal Management to Community Wellbeing department and spend more money promoting responsible pet ownership rather than focusing on compliance to generate an extra income stream for Yarra. Animal welfare officers NOT compliance officers

Edinburgh Gardens community based committee of management

Ed Gardens is Crown Land covered by heritage overlay currently managed by Yarra - it should have an independent community based Committee of Management -

Garden & food waste collection service

A 3-bin collection service should be implemented with a "green" bin provided to every household with weekly collection. Many councils have implemented this system and some, like Albury City council also provide a kitchen caddy with compostable liners to collect the food waste. Too few people are composting their food waste with all this waste going to landfill. Most apartments and houses in Yarra do not have the space or a garden to recycle food scraps. It is high time Yarra resolved this major…

Relocate all power services underground

Overhead power lines and poles are sheer ugliness. With hotter temperatures they are more prone to catching on fire. With growth in building, there are more lines installed. Why not get developers of these massive buildings to contribute to putting these services underground, esp if they take up half a block.

Improve waste management

With greater density - residential and retail - there is more waste, more trucks congesting the streets, more bins scattered over the roads / footpaths, more smells. Why not implement waste pickups to be localised to main streets only. Countries around the world are have installed or are researching waste points with underground receptacles.

Implement Green Buffer Zones

Qld and NSW have successfully implemented green zones between large scale developments. The growth in Collingwood is wall to wall concrete with no landscape relief. The setbacks are non existent which breeds for a very ugly and hard environment.

Cease further inappropriate developments in Collingwood or it will be the slums of the future. The height and bulk of the buildings being approved and built are so out of character for the once charming and historical street scapes. Encourage the owners o

Create More Parkland--low hanging fruit

Close Rae Street and Brunswick Street North, North Fitzroy @ the linear park. This will improve livability and amenity for local residents and visitors by removing rat-running motorists: making it safer for people walking and bike riding along the Capital City Trail, especially children walking to and from school and will add around 1000 square metres of extra green space.

Reduce ongoing building maintenance

The council currently maintains 3 town hall buildings. This is a significant ongoing cost. Through a sale or similar reduce the number to 2 or at best 1 town hall building.

Implement a Truck Management Plan for Cremorne

Trucks rat-running through local residential streets in Cremorne (many due to illegal out of hours private garbage collections) is a constant harassment and amenity issue for Cremorne Residents. Council should implement a truck management plan as private roads and businesses have failed to control their garbage contractors. This Truck Management Plan will ensure night time harassment and rat-running trucks through residential zones in local roads is addressed and trucks must use dedicated…

Implement a PAO for Cremorne (to provide DDA compliant footpath widths)

Implement a Property Acquisition Overlay (PAO) for all commercial/business zone frontages in Cremorne, as footpath widths are substandard and cannot cater for prams/mobility impaired. As businesses get sold and sites redeveloped the PAO is implemented so over time footpaths and building frontages provide minimum 2m footpath width/frontage.

Additional on-road bike lanes to link up with existing lanes to make it easier to cycle around all of Yarra not just small pockets.

Tagging/Graffiti reporting app

An app that would allow people to report tags/graffiti in the City of Yarra, meaning faster clean ups and more conversations about stopping the tagging. This should go hand in hand with bigger punishments for people who are caught.

Increase green space in Cremorne

Cremorne has a severe lack of green space, which should be improved. There are small parks tucked in the corner, but more visible green space when going about our day to day lives would be great.

CCTV cameras

Install CCTV cameras to streets either side of hospitality laid streets to curb drunken rampages, people relieving themselves on doorsteps, vandalism, etc. For example, streets surrounding Smith Street and Brunswick St.

Go greener

Introduce trees to every street type regardless of width or length. Surely we can streamline parking line markings it suit if there are no or minimal footpaths.

Address the long queue of vehicles trying to turn left from Cremorne st at the intersection with Swan st

Currently there is a long queue from about 5 to 6pm on week days and cars turning right often go on the wrong side of the road to get past the queue. There is very little time to turn left from Cremorne st at that intersection, but a lot of vehicles are going that way.

Add a bike lane on Cremorne st

If the cars stick to the right it's easy to get through, but they don't always. A bike lane would help get them to stick to the right.

Provide gaps in bluestone on roads for bikes

It's extremely unpleasant to ride over without suspension.

Public open green spaces

Yarra needs to do more to provide adequate parks and public open spaces in the areas that are experiencing significant residential development - specifically Collingwood and North Richmond. It is state level planning decisions that have prompted the development, perhaps the state government can help to purchse land to provide for the recreational needs of the growing community?

Remove the four parking spaces at the junction of Cremorne Street and Swan Street - opposite the Precinct Hotel.

When these spaces are occupied there is only room for one or two cars wanting to turn left into Swan Street. The rest tail back along Cremorne Street. People who want to turn right into Swan Street often overtake this tailback by driving up the wrong side of the road - often into incoming traffic. It's a really dangerous intersection and removing these parking spaces would alleviate this problem.

Replace Plane Trees with a native street tree program

Plane trees are a hazard for people with allergies, and for cyclists on hot windy days. We shouldn't be planting them, and should have a plan for progressively replacing them with street trees. The gums in roundabouts are beautiful, there must be other good native street tree options

Encourage the removal of graffiti in Yarra. More than 90% of the graffiti on public and private property in Yarra is not art, rather an act of vandalism and signature tagging. These tagging graffiti writers should be discouraged by the Council encourag

Adopt the resolution passed by the Community Meeting at Fitzroy Town Hall on Mandatory Height Limits and setbacks

Mandatory Height Limits

Inclusivity and welcoming

City of Yarra is a welcoming, encouraging place to live. I have always felt as through the individuality of a person can shine somewhere when they have the freedom to be themselves without judgement. I have always felt that residents in City of Yarra are friendly, kind and welcoming.

Make Gertrude Street safer for cyclist

Having being car doored once as well as experiencing too many near misses, I would love to see a plan to make Gertrude St safer for cyclist, as it serves as a major thoroughfare for cyclists.

Address the Homelessness Crisis

We desperately need to find more housing for the city of Yarra's homeless. I have watched the problem balloon out of control over the years and it is time we did something to help these people who have fallen on hard times. It's time for real solutions.

Safe Injecting Rooms

Drug use isn't going away, we need spaces where drug users can safely take drugs under supervision. If we do this we can monitor the quality of the drugs, better ensure the safety of the drug users, clean up the streets of used needles and have a point of contact with the drug users better enabling us to help those hoping to be cured of the disease of drug addiction. Let's clean up the city of Yarra and help those doing it tough.

Planning should address habitat, food and safe movement needs of wildlife species sharing Yarra's open spaces.

Trees are an important feature in Yarra providing shade, respite from heat and a shield against the incremental effects of climate change. Yarra's liveability is also enhanced by the many native animals that also call our green city home. Their needs for habitat, fodder, safe movement corridors and supportive community attitudes should comprise a central element of open space planning to ensure their future survival in the face of climate change challenges that they also face. Key initiatives…

Diversity

I love the diversity of Yarra: the diversity of built form, from tiny Victorian workers cottages to multi-level modern apartment blocks, the diverse ethnic backgrounds, education levels, ages and incomes of the people who live, work and play here.

SAFE INJECTING ROOM

Residents are often first responders for overdoses, and are ambulances attend dozens of drug related call outs everyday. This is both stressful for residents, and a drain on our already overstretched ambulance service. A save injecting room, funded by seized proceeds of crime, like the one in Kings Cross is desperately needed. Last week alone I issued first aid and called an ambulance on two occasions for overdoses in the laneway behind my property - Im fed up - lets fix this problem.

Love Edinburgh Gardens and pockets of open space like Canning St middle strip

With small living space, the open space in Yarra makes it so much more enjoyable to live in. Gets everyone out in the park or on the street and creates community. This will be even more important as more people move into yarra with more apartments

Green walls and roofs to address urban heat island effects

As natural permeable areas of our municipality (back and front yards) give way to dense urban development we need to activate opportunities to address the urban heat island effect. Practical cost effective actions include: 1. Grants to assist landowners with suitable roofs and to install green roofs/walls 2. Replace the bitumen with lighter coloured permeable paving. Especially on low traffic streets such as those which are dead end streets leading to the Merri Creek. 3. Look into options to…

Introduce soft plastic recycling

The Council should formally investigate the possibility of collecting soft plastics as part of the weekly recycling collection (e.g. food wrappers, packaging, plastic bags). At minimum, it should put a soft plastics collection bin at all council recycling centres. Some councils in Australia do this already - City of Yarra should be leading the way on recycling and waste reduction. The Council should also commit to ensuring all new 'street furniture' items it orders (park benches, bollards,…

Homeless. Let's not make them invisible.

There is obviously a homeless issue in Yarra. The paper mills is testimonial to that. Why don't we add some community housing to the Yarra Park postcode? I think this would be more important than meaningless heritage listings.

Tram linking the inner city suburbs

I'd like to see a tram linking Richmond and Fitzroy link to existing lines to St Kilda and North Melbourne.