Friday, December 10, 2010

Warrandyte election candidate fights for independence

WARRANDYTE’S Paul Slattery has vowed to challenge the Victorian Electoral Commission in court after being denied the opportunity to declare his independence at last month’s state election.... Read More

- Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Neighbours stars join drive to stop Warrandyte tower

Neighbours star Stefan Dennis is backing a campaign to stop the installation of a phone tower in Warrandyte.... Read More

- Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Monday, November 29, 2010

Victorian Election results 2010

For those interested in the Victorian Election results for 2010 visit the VEC site. Select Current Election. Select Results. On this page you’ll see a summary in terms of numbers of votes and percentages for parties. If you select the “More detailed” link you can then change the result for your district and similarly for the region. The VEC doesn’t show a good summary of the situation with the seats for each party. For that it is best to check a couple of the main media sites.

Kelvin Eldridge
Authorised by Kelvin Eldridge 12 Stradmore Avenue Templestowe 3106

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Pound Bend Warrandyte

As the story goes, in 1870 a gold mining company decided to divert the Yarra in Warrandyte by creating a tunnel.

Pound Bend is one of my favourite spots in Warrandyte where I've often taken family and overseas visitors to experience the natural environment and local bird life.

Over the years I've always picnicked on the Eastern side of Pound Bend where the water enters the tunnel. Today I decided to check out the Western side of Pound Bend which can be accessed via Everard Drive. With the recent downpour, the roar of the water as it exited the tunnel showed how powerful the Yarra can be. The Yarra is certainly a river that needs to be treated with respect.

Kelvin Eldridge

Chilled out youth concert planned for Warrandyte

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

TED: Ideas worth spreading

I’ve listened to a number of the talks from a site called TED. I find some of the ideas shared to be thought provoking and felt that perhaps others may wish to know about the site.

 

Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world

- Kelvin Eldridge

New SmartBus Routes and DART Smartbus 901, 905, 906, 907, 908.

I found the references to Smartbus and then DART to be somewhat confusing. Are there now three bus services or something I thought. So I thought I’d simplify things. A bus is a bus. Just think of the Smartbus and DART as marketing, remove the terms and think of a bus service. Then it becomes simpler.

901 – This bus goes from Frankston to Melbourne Airport. Quite a few people have said to me who’d bother. But I reply, “think of the bus as a continuous route where you can get on and off where it suits you. If I just want to go from Templestowe to the Pines I can”. Just because a bus can go from Frankston to Melbourne Airport doesn’t mean we all have to use it that way. The 901 travels up Blackburn road to the Pines, along Reynolds Road, Fitzsimmons Lane, Main Road, Para Road, Greensborough Station. To me we now have a service which services Templestowe, Doncaster East, and can be used to go to Greensborough Plaza, The Pines and at a push, Ringwood shopping centre.

905 – City to The Pines. This bus travels from Lonsdale Street, Victoria Parade, Hoddle Street, Eastern Freeway, Thompsons Road, Parker Street, Porter Street, Blackburn Road, The Pines. It replaces the old 301 route and now makes the service a continuous service every fifteen minutes between 6:30am and 9Pm on weekdays and 30 minutes at other times. Previously the 301 stopped travelling to the city and a bus charge was required.

906 – City to Warrandyte. This bus travels from Lonsdale Street, Victoria Parade, Hoddle Street, Eastern Freeway, Blackburn Road, The Pines, Andersons Creek Road, Heidelberg Warrandyte Road, Warrandyte. The bus runs seven days a week every 7-10 minutes during peak times, every 15 minutes during weekdays and every 30 minutes at other times.

907 – City to Mitcham. This bus travels from Lonsdale Street, Victoria Parade, Hoddle Street, Eastern Freeway, Doncaster Road, Mitcham Road, Mitcham Station. The bus runs seven days a week every 7-10 minutes during peak times, every 15 minutes during weekdays and every 30 minutes at other times.

908 – City to The Pines. This bus travels from Lonsdale Street, Victoria Parade, Hoddle Street, Eastern Freeway, High Street, King Street, Blackburn Road, The Pines. The bus runs seven days a week every 7-10 minutes during peak times, every 15 minutes during weekdays and every 30 minutes at other times.

To me the really interesting route is the 901. Because this always stays in zone 2, it means only a zone 2 ticket is required and that can be more cost effective.

I still feel there are two aspects missing. A bus going from The Pines to Heidelberg station via Foote Street and Templestowe Road would help reduce one bus for locals travelling to La Trobe University and those taking the train from Heidelberg station. A second aspect is the cost of public transport discourages very short trips. It costs me the same to go from Frankston to the Airport as it does to go from my local bus stop to Templestowe Village shops or up to the local swimming pool. I noticed the same problem in the UK. Short trips aren’t encouraged and I think that is short-sighted. This encourages people to use their cars. The fuller buses are the better for the environment. When buses run around empty and via quite indirect paths, a fuel efficient car may be a better environmental choice and that shouldn’t be the case. A gold coin option for short trips on buses I feel should be part of our public transport options.

The update to the bus network in the Templestowe area is a welcome change. Will it encourage more people to use public transport. Only time will tell.

Kelvin Eldridge

 

 

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Reduce the need for printed catalogues like Target's

I often think there is no need for printed catalogues from most of the major department stores and have a no junk mail sign on my letterbox. Unfortunately that doesn’t stop the department stores as they simply move their catalogues into the local papers and local papers ignore the no junk mail signs. If I want to check out a department store’s catalogue I just go to their site such as Target’s (http://target.dynamiccatalogue.com.au/portal?lsm) and select the area. Catalogues will keep coming because department stores make money from the catalogues as advertisers have to pay for product placement. If catalogues were a cost they’d probably stop tomorrow and that would save a lot of trees. Check out the online catalogues. You can often find out the information before your local paper arrives. When I’m looking to buy a commonly advertised item I’ve often checked for and found products using the online catalogues saving some money.

Kelvin Eldridge

Monday, October 4, 2010

Mobile speed camera locations (Bulleen, Doncaster, Doncaster East, Eltham, Lower Plenty, Montmorency, Templestowe, Templestowe Lower, Warrandyte)

Published mobile speed camera locations for October 2010.

Bulleen
Bulleen Road, between Thompsons Road and Manningham Road

Doncaster
King Street, between Williamsons Road and Veda Court
George Street, between Victoria Street and Williamsons Road
High Street, between Manningham Road and Doncaster Road
Wetherby Road, between Doncaster Road and Koonung Creek
Doncaster Road, between Rose Street and High Street

Doncaster East
Doncaster Road, between Blackburn Road and Wetherby Road
King Street, between Nedlands Court and Ashcroft Avenue
Blackburn Road, between Raintree Road and Johns Grove
Blackburn Road, between Beverley Street and Turnstone Street
Blackburn Road, between Reynolds Road and King Street

Eltham
Main Road, between Leane Drive and Kalbar Road

Montmorency
Sherbourne Road, between Porter Street and Karingal Drive

Templestowe
High Street, between Rosemary Street and Linton Avenue
Serpells Road, between Church Road and Killibury Court
Reynolds Road, between Hawtin Street and Smiths Road

Templestowe Lower
Manningham Road, between Ayr Street and High Street

North Warrandyte
Research-Warrandyte Road, between Camelot Close and San Angelo Road


Kelvin Eldridge

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Lower Plenty Hotel birthday celebration

Yesterday we all went to the Lower Plenty hotel for a birthday celebration. The Lower Plenty Hotel is a family favourite and we are pretty confident the food will be good and we'll have a good time.

The youngest in the group tried winning a prize on the claw machine managing to score quite a few lollies in the process. With a little help from a an older cousin they won a lovely green lizard which made their day.

Everyone enjoyed their meals which were generous in size. Mine was a chicken parmigiana with vegetables. Yes I am trying to keep the weight off. I suspect the deep fried crumbed cauliflower which was lovely didn't help though.

The one thing that really impressed me is with the birthday cake. With some restaurants you get the feeling you're going to have an issue. They do after all miss out on getting orders for desert and have extra plates to wash. But the Lower Plenty Hotel made no fuss and helped us make it an enjoyable celebration.

Well done to the friendly team at the Lower Plenty Hotel.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au/3113