Residents in Melbourne's west call on Transport Minister to take trucks off their streets or face blockades
By Ruza Zivkusic | July 6, 2011
Melbourne’s anti-truck group warns of further protests that would see major truck routes blocked if the Victorian Government fails to come to the table.
Maribyrnong Truck Action Group President Peter Knight is calling on Transport Minister Terry Mulder to meet with the group and discuss ways of reducing truck traffic in Yarraville as 7000 trucks travel on Francis Street each day.
Mulder has rejected a number of meeting requests, telling the group he is too busy, Knight says.
Knight wants to discuss the former Labor Government’s plan to build ramps on the West Gate Bridge that would significantly reduce truck traffic.
Mulder told The Age the former government had 11 years to deal with truck traffic in the city’s west but no works were ever started.
“At the moment we are really disappointed with Mulder, he won’t discuss this in a constructive way and he’s trashing the good work that people have put in over a lot of years,” Knight says,” Knight says.
“This project has been in the planning for over 10 years; it’s not some fly-by-night that has been dreamed about recently, so he needs to get straight with the facts very quickly as the residents’ health is being damaged.
“Honestly, we don’t want to disrupt traffic, we don’t want to protest but we want to engage in a dialogue and come up with a solution that benefits the residents and works for the transport industry.
“We respect truck drivers and we respect the transport industry and other industry’s need for transport.
“If Terry Mulder won’t listen we’ll just go back to disrupting traffic; I don’t know when as we’re holding off for as long as we can – it’s the last resort but it’s a resort that we’ll be prepared to take.”