House debates

Monday, 16 November 2009

Constituency Statements

Calwell Electorate: Blind Creek Bike Path

4:21 pm

Photo of Maria VamvakinouMaria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

On Tuesday, 20 October I was very pleased to announce the construction of the Blind Creek bike path in Sunbury. The Blind Creek shared bike path project is part of the Rudd government’s $40 million National Bike Paths Projects fund and a key element of our economic stimulus plan. The project’s total cost is $348,272 with an NBPP contribution of $210,000. Importantly, this path has been delivered in partnership with the Hume City Council. The project will construct a total of a two kilometres by 2.5 metres shared path along the north and south banks of Blind Creek in Sunbury. As such, the path will allow residents of the newly established estates of Phillip Drive to travel by bike past the Killara Primary School to the back of St Anne’s Primary School and St Anne’s Church. The path will also run to Sunbury West Primary School, Clarke Oval and the Sunbury Leisure Centre, which will then link with existing parks to Sunbury Secondary College to Salesian College and, of course, to the town centre. The north side of the path will run from the Killara Primary School to Kerri Court, while the south side path will run from Blind Creek Boulevard to halfway between Tracie Court and Dawn Court.

Importantly six jobs will be supported during construction of the project helping deliver an economic boost to the township of Sunbury. While I am particularly pleased to see this investment in Sunbury infrastructure, I am also happy that the National Bike Paths Program will help promote healthy and environmentally friendly lifestyles in the Sunbury area as well as provide support for our local economy. By building better cycling infrastructure, the government is helping take cars off our local roads and reduce carbon emissions over the longer term. This program ties together our need to invest in infrastructure and our need to create jobs as we continue to navigate our way on the road to recovery from the global financial crisis. Moreover, the Rudd government is building community infrastructure that will encourage healthier lifestyles amongst residents and create more sustainable communities. I am very pleased with the manner in which the Rudd Labor government has been working hand-in-glove with our local governments.

Hume mayor, Jack Ogilvy, who has been living in Sunbury for over 30 years, also welcomed the announcement. Jack told me the other day that he welcomed any money going to Sunbury that would get the locals out and engaged in passive recreation. He noted that this path will go a long way to improving the health and wellbeing of the people of Sunbury. Blind Creek is one of Sunbury’s main waterways and people love getting out and about where there is water.

It is great to be able to deliver this kind of upgrade to Sunbury. I look forward to its completion and I certainly look forward to being given the opportunity to ride my bike on the Blind Creek bike pathway.