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Sent: Tuesday, 27 October 2020, 04:52:10 pm AEDT
Subject: Wed.22.7.20 daily digest

Roderick

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171218M or 171227W Metro Twitter - 621218Tu-102078-SpencerSt-17.19Werribee-J546-WestonLangford-ss.jpg - with aTN & v-n

Wed.22.7.20 Metro Twitter
9.23 Dandenong: No lift access between the concourse and pfm 1/2 (an outage). Passengers on citybound trains for Dandenong change at Yarraman for an outbound train. Passengers at Dandenong speak to station staff for alternative arrangements.
- 9.29 Lift access has been restored.
16.05 Glen Waverley line: Major delays clearing after a police action near Tooronga.
- 16.52 Major delays again (police near Tooronga and near Mount Waverley).
- 17.12 Clearing.
- 17.35 Major delays again (police near Jordanville and earlier aftermath).  Trains may be held/altered.
- 17.45 Clearing.
16.48 Mernda line: Major delays (police near Merri).
- 16.55 Clearing.
17.16 Mernda/Hurstbridge line: Delays (a trespasser near North Richmond, and the Merri aftermath).  Trains may be held/altered.
- 17.18 clearing.
Buses replace trains Newport - Werribee from 19.25 util the last train (works).
Buses replace trains North Melbourne - Upfield from 20.20 until the last train (maintenance works).
Mernda/Hurstbridge lines: Buses replace trains Parliament - Clifton Hill from 20.20 until the last train (maintenance works).
Buses replace trains Dandenong - Pakenham from 20.30 until the last train (works).
Lilydale/Belgrave lines: All trains will terminate/originate at Burnley from 20.50 until the last train (works).  From Southern Cross and loop stations, take a Pakenham [or Frankston?] train to Richmond, then change to a Glen Waverley train to Burnley.
Glen Waverley line: All trains will run direct to/from Flinders St from 20.50 until the last train (maintenance works).
Sunbury/Craigieburn/Upfield lines: All trains run direct to/from Flinders St (works). From loop stations [ie Melbourne Central; Metro ignored the other two] take a Swanston St tram to Flinders St.

~9.12.17 Melbourne 'Herald Sun' letters:
* Generating problems. STATE Minister for Energy Lily D'Ambrosio has faced the media and told all Victorians that the closure of Hazelwood power station will have no detrimental effects on power supply regardless of demand. It now transpires that 105 diesel generators are being transported into La Trobe Valley, as back-up for the expected shortfall over the summer months when air conditioners ramp up demand
Given that Hazelwood was closed for environmental reasons, it's a strange way to ensure supply  _ having diesel motors spew toxins into the atmosphere.
Perhaps this realisation explains the recent visit by Ms D'Ambrosio to the area completely unannounced, with her departure just as secretive.
* Coal doesn't add up. No matter how l look at it, building a new coal mine does not make sense.
It is economically shortsighted, very high rbk. creates relatively few jobsand is terrible for our global reputation. Just look at the economics.
Australia is by far the leading exporter of coal Experts agree that global demand has peaked, so increasing supply lowers prices, which hurts the market leader more than any other country. Do  receive personal benefit on this issue? Or do they think we are so keen to be anti-green
that we will ignore the bigger figure?

Demolishing the Cahill Expressway could be COVID's gift to Sydney July 22, 2020. 203 comments
Throughout history, some of the greatest social and economic upheavals have created exceptional public works legacies. Cities in particular have benefited from this pattern of crisis and investment in recovery.
As Australia grapples with the ups and downs of COVID-19, we are presented with a tipping point to improve the design of our cities. The legacy of this pandemic should be a turning point towards more humane cities that change daily life for the better.
Redesigning Circular Quay could provide a lasting public benefit for Sydney.CREDIT:BROOK MITCHELL
In Sydney we should consider deconstructing space and infrastructure dedicated to cars and its re-creation into public space. Now is not the time for short-term thinking, but rather for considering investment in public works that will create a better future for our city.
Critically, we need to consider what type of future society we want to build for, and which places we can create to generate significant public benefit.
Three projects stand out: Town Hall Square, which has long been discussed as a missing link in the CBD's public urban fabric, and the Cahill Expressway and Park Street, both of which could be redesigned to claim back amenity for people, instead of prioritising cars.
The City of Sydney has long planned to build Town Hall Square. Its ambition is to be a magnificent people place in the heart of our city, connecting to Town Hall and the new pedestrianised section of George Street. What better time to bring forward its construction?
The NSW government has committed $93 billion to constructing major projects in order to boost the economy. The pandemic has also made clear the wellbeing benefits high quality public spaces can contribute to everyday life. And yet the city recently announced it's considering a 10-year extension to Woolworths' lease at Town Hall to fill a budget gap, thereby preventing the square's construction for another decade.
The public benefits of a new Town Hall Square and the recently pedestrianised George Street could be extended to Park Street. This would not only convert this car clogged street into an east-west pedestrian boulevard, but it would also reunite Hyde Park – with its treasured pathways and green spaces – with the heart of the city via newly created public space.
Similar civic improvements were realised under Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration in the US during the 1930s, after the Great Depression, which created bridges, roads and parks, often incorporating artworks, and leaving an enduring legacy on the American landscape. Town Hall Square and Park Street could be the enduring legacy in our city from this pandemic.
Redesigning Circular Quay to rededicate space to people and public uses could also yield a lasting public legacy for our city. The removal of the Cahill Expressway and relocation of the rail line would reassert the area's position as a place of historic national significance and reconnect our harbour city with its harbour.
The reconnection of Sydney to its harbour is similar to the creation of the great embankments along the River Thames in London, which were part of the sewer system built in the mid-1800s in response to the cholera epidemic.
These magnificent public works incorporated a tunnel for public transport and created a new civic promenade for London, which had previously turned its back on the Thames. Today they are one of London's enduring urban spaces. Redesigning Circular Quay through removing the Cahill Expressway would create a similarly enduring legacy for Sydney.
There is no doubt the pandemic will continue to wreak short- and long-term havoc around the world.
In Sydney, however, we are well positioned to leverage a silver lining: redesigning public spaces so that Sydneysiders and visitors alike can experience a better city.
We should embrace this once-in-a-generation opportunity to fundamentally change the way we experience Sydney and heal the damage caused by insensitive infrastructure, delivering a more sustainable, high-quality daily life, and a legacy of strong public design for future generations.
Philip Vivian is a director of architecture firm Bates Smart. He is an expert in urban renewal. Key projects include the integrated station developments at the Victoria Cross and Pitt Street Metro stations in central Sydney.
RELATED ARTICLE NSW residents are being urged to get tested even if they have the mildest of symptoms.  As the day unfolded: Victoria records 484 new COVID-19 cases as Thai Rock Wetherill Park cluster grows in NSW; Australian death toll stands at 128
RELATED ARTICLE An artist's impression of the proposed Town Hall Square. 'Very good' supermarket offer risks delaying town square for decade
<www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/demolishing-the-cahill-expressway-could-be-covid-s-gift-to-sydney-20200721-p55dxj.html>
Just two:
* YES! YES! YES! please knock the bloody thing down and as for the City Circle line, just remove Circular Quay station, build two other stations in George St North and Macquarie St North and then have the trains go to & from just like they do at Bondi Junction ... so it's Central, Town Hall, Wynyard, George St North on one side and Central, Museum, Set James & Macquarie St North on t'other!
* Relocation of the railway line. Yeh. Well. There's a thing called the City Circle, which among other things facilitates trains proceeding through an uninterrupted circle in order they can head back from whence they came. Of course the circle provides transport access throughout the city. Pretty clever people when it was designed in the 1920s. Current government might learn something.
Another inconvenient factor is that their is a limit to the grades trains can accommodate (just like people and cars), so if St James Station is to somehow still connect with Wynyard- that loop/circle thing - then there's no way the existing line could be lowered - the resultant grades. Then there's the fact Circular Quay is a transport interchange - no railway - no interchange. How inconvenient.

New police powers to be broad enough to target Facebook July 22, 2020. 28 comments
<www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/new-police-powers-to-be-broad-enough-to-target-facebook-20200722-p55ebw.html>

Delay in billion-dollar City Deal a 'cruel blow' to Queensland recovery July 22, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has put a plan to direct billions of dollars towards south-east Queensland projects over the next 20 years on hold.
The plan would commit local, state and federal governments to fund specific areas to cater to a population that will grow by 1.9 million people in the next two decades.
South-east Queensland is arguing for a set funding deal from local, state and federal government to cope with population growth.CREDIT:LOUIE DOUVIS
Property Council of Queensland and the Committee for Brisbane described the delay to 2021 as “a cruel blow” for south-east Queensland, where citizens “deserved better”.
Queensland Property Council executive director Chris Mountford questioned the wisdom of delaying the funding plan.
"To be fair, we would have expected a few months' delay on the basis that COVID-19 has had an impact, but to simply kick the can into next year seems too much of a delay," Mr Mountford said.
He said other states were doing a better job of locking in private-sector investment as part of their economic recovery plans.
"Queensland is really slow out of the gate on this front. We are not seeing much of the critical role that private investment will need to play in that," he said.
"I think if they were still negotiating the Western Sydney City Deal, I am fairly confident the NSW government would not be tolerating a pause.
"They would more likely be saying, 'we want the investment faster because we want that investment sooner'."
Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick rejected suggestions Queensland's economic recovery was lagging behind other states.
"The Queensland economy is actually thrashing New South Wales," Mr Dick said.
"We were the only state to record a decline in our unemployment rate last month, and recent transaction data from the Commonwealth Bank shows Queensland private-sector spending has recovered faster and higher than any other state."
Mr Dick said Queensland was able to attract the $2 billion Forest Wind renewable power project in Wide Bay, the $2.1 billion Dexus redevelopment of Brisbane's Eagle Street, and the $1.5 billion Valeria coal mine.
"The reality is that the SEQ City Deal would do nothing to improve these numbers in the COVID environment because it’s about projects that only deliver years away," Mr Dick said.
"This includes things like the 2032 Olympics, a process which is currently on hold given the IOC has delayed the 2020 Olympics."
Cities Minister Alan Tudge signed a statement of intent in Brisbane on March 15, 2019, with Queensland's then-treasurer, Jackie Trad, and former Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk, who was chair of the South East Queensland Council of Mayors at the time.
Graham Quirk, Jackie Trad and Cities Minister Alan Tudge after signing a statement of intent for a SEQ City Deal.CREDIT:TONY MOORE
The formal South-East Queensland City Deal was expected to be signed in mid-2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
However, a decision to delay planning was agreed by all three levels of government, according to a joint statement released on Tuesday.
"The Australian Government, Queensland Government and Council of Mayors (SEQ) have agreed to extend the negotiation of the SEQ City Deal into 2021 while we focus on recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic," the statement reads.
"As governments focus on the COVID-19 impacts it will be important to assess new priorities in the context of the recovery at a later date.
"This will ensure all levels of government have greater clarity of the impacts on the SEQ region and that new and emerging priorities are considered to ensure we have a solid foundation for our future SEQ vision."
The email was signed by Mr Tudge, Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick and Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner, chair of the Council of Mayors (SEQ).
Mr Mountford said the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the state's economy "should provide added impetus to a City Deal, now".
He and Committee for Brisbane chief executive Barton Green said in a joint statement an SEQ City Deal should be the centrepiece of recovery.
"The decision to postpone all the hard work done to date is confusing and disappointing."
There are seven signed City Deals in place throughout Australia: Townsville, Launceston, western Sydney, Darwin, Hobart, Geelong and Adelaide.
The statement from the Property Council of Queensland and Committee for Brisbane asked governments to reconsider this decision.
"Deliver on the promises made to south-east Queensland residents to fund and prioritise City Deal projects that will support our growth and our economy."
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/delay-in-billion-dollar-city-deal-a-cruel-blow-to-queensland-recovery-20200722-p55ecv.html>