Dear Editor
Traffic Calming on Nelson Rd
In your article Nelson Road, Box Hill a misguided planning proposal (Eastsider News Edition 28), Michael Kirk argues against the safety improvements Council is planning for Nelson Rd, opining that outpatients and visitors are being ‘dispossessed’, having to use more expensive parking spaces.
It is an attitude cyclists encounter often: Risking your life counts for nothing when (cheap) parking is in jeopardy. Larger and larger vehicles occupied by ‘frail’ patients whose abilities at the wheel might not be the best while distracted by, say, being late for an appointment.
Kirk might be surprised to hear that ‘recreational’ cycling is not what I do on Nelson Rd. Having been nursed back from a life-changing, SUV-induced injury at the Epworth, cycling to my appointments is just what the doctor ordered. For most patients, the need to drive scuppers opportunities for physical exercise, which for almost all patients improves health outcomes.
While unable to cycle, I arrived in a taxi. Limping on crutches to the hospital amidst cars carelessly pushing past was a panic-inducing nightmare. Wider, smoother footpaths that are easier to use with mobility aids would also have helped.
Hearing about my specialist’s interest in cycling to work, my first reaction was fear for his life. Every cyclist knows that cars are a mortal danger. A Monash study reported that 78% of survey respondents count themselves as ‘interested but concerned’. This is where the ‘current’ cyclists are that Kirk is asking for: waiting for a safe cycling network where they won’t experience what I did.
Irene Moser PhD, Burwood
Nelson Road Box Hill planning proposal – a response from a cyclist
Elaine Hopper
The February 2025 issue of Eastsider News featured an article by Michael Kirk, a former CEO of Box Hill Hospital, about what he called ‘a misguided planning proposal’ for Nelson Road, Box Hill.
I would like to assure readers that, contrary to what was stated in that article, there was an extensive consultation process by Council, for Nelson Road improvements. This included the managers of the two Nelson Road hospitals, Epworth and Box Hill, as well as managers of the RSL and the Box Hill Institute (TAFE). In addition, community members from the various groups that use Nelson Road took part in workshops and these included two groups representing cyclists and walkers. There were also nurses, and local people from the Elgar Contact group. On checking with council, I was told that further talks were held with the RSL, and with the Box Hill Hospital management to consider their concerns. I was a participant as a cycling advocate in the Nelson Road workshops and forums.
The consultation was then widened to allow for more community input, and the process wound up in April 2023 at which point a 4-stage plan for improvements was prepared.
That plan involves pedestrianisation and calming of the area, making it walker and cycle friendly. Nelson Road is on a Principal Bicycle Network route leading north to Box Hill and the Gardiners Creek Trail, and south to connect to the Koonung Trail. Cyclists would be enabled to use it as a commuting route to Nelson Road itself, and to other destinations. Mr Kirk wants to know how many cyclists use the route now. Well, safety there is a big concern yet to be solved for them, as well as for pedestrians. The upgrades will enable alternative transport to be more viable and attractive to people who attend the hospital and the TAFE.
Nelson Road is certainly challenging. Busses, cars, taxis, bikes and pedestrians are always about in the daytime, and large waste removal trucks operate in the early hours. The street is narrow. Safety has been helped by recent 40kph speed limits, but the pavements and the nature strips near the hospitals are broken down and have hollows and tree roots. There is a pedestrian crossing in Nelson Road near the Box Hill hospital, but many people cross elsewhere, unprotected, along the area between Thames and Arnold Street.
The plans for improvement are in line with the Council’s Metropolitan Activity Centre Review Report which recommended modifying Nelson Road (and the central area of Box Hill) to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists, to cater for the huge increase in population planned for that area, with most people living in high-rise apartments.
The staged plan involves eventually removing parking on Nelson Road, parking which would be replaced elsewhere. For those who are too frail to walk far, there are circular driveways into both hospitals for people being dropped off or picked up by car or taxi. There is other parking already available in nearby streets. Refuge places for pedestrians along the centre of the road, will make the road safer for them.
If readers would like to see the Nelson Road plans the link is here: Nelson Road, Box Hill, Safety Improvements | Your Say Whitehorse
https://yoursay.whitehorse.vic.gov.au/nelson-road
Elaine Hopper is a committee member of Metro East Bicycle User Group
Victorian Government’s Activity Centre Program fails many tests.
John Mosig
On the evening of 11 February, I attended a forum of Boroondara ratepayers addressing the state government’s Activity Centres Program. Designed to accommodate a Melbourne population of 7 to 9 million, it was a lesson in environmental, social and economic vandalism.
What made the evening most bizarre was that the government planners speaking to the slideshow points didn’t once mention climate change or future-proofing building standards. A housing and amenity infrastructure program designed to carry us through to the end of the century without considering climate change in its brief is professionally incompetent and a scandalous use of taxpayers’ money. Future generations may describe it as criminal negligence. Without strict regulation and oversight, this very expensive and resource-consuming build has every chance of delivering a massive environmental slum. Here in Boroondara and across the whole city.
Just as worrying was the absence of clear guidelines on such issues as compulsory acquisition, adequate compensation and the right of appeal. Attendees were assured that these issues would be dealt with later. The person next to me muttered; ‘Oh yeah; pull the other one’.
Furthermore, while no budget figure was offered, Boroondara residents were told private developers would do the construction and pick up the tab. In the light of the government’s track record overseeing projects of this nature, it brought jeers from the assembled ratepayers.
The runoff alone from the proposed concrete jungle, in Boroondara and across Melbourne, would necessitate a complete restructure of the zones’ stormwater systems to prevent flooding, which in turn would distort the downstream hydrology in the Yarra catchment, an area home to a third of the city’s population.
The plan is totally unhinged from reality on several fronts and dwarfs the big infrastructure build, the run-away cost of which has paupered Victoria, forcing, presumably, the increases in state taxes and service charges imposed, while public services have been restricted.
In the absence of any business plan or cost benefits schedule, the centres aim to almost double the population of Boroondara. To meet the estimated population, the project has a presumed timeline of 25 years. The scramble for scarce labour and material is going to leave residents living and working amongst building sites for decades. With Boroondara is already operating close to maximum serviceable capacity, this will impact amenity and property values will fall. Any fair compensation for this would be in the billions; a reparation not considered in the draft, and one would presume, not envisioned by those who threw together this wild social engineering adventure.
Treeless, high-rise building zones form heat banks and wind tunnels. The combination of a self-regulating private sector and the absence of community facilities, such as schools and open space, has left the Dockland housing stock development a white elephant. The government proposal outlined on the night threatens the same fate for those areas chosen for this 20th Century solution to a 21st Century problem.
To put some perspective to the situation beyond a local political distraction, the UN’s International Organisation for Migration reported that, driven by climate change and its societal impact, there are currently over 400m refugees searching for a home. With no global consensus to reduce the use of fossil fuels the present rate of climate breakdown can only increase, further driving up the number of displaced persons. While an unimaginable catastrophe, spending money and resources building more houses to absorb this tidal wave of humanity is only going to generate more greenhouse gas emissions. Clearly, we’re going to have to face the consequences of the world we’ve created and think our way out of the predicament but destroying a functioning facility we already have is not the answer.
Nelson Road, Box Hill – a misguided planning proposal
Michael Kirk OAM
Whitehorse Council recently submitted it’s MAC (Metropolitan Activity Centre) review report to the Suburban Rail Loop Authority. Among other things, the MAC report recommends that Nelson Road, Box Hill be modified to give priority to cyclists and pedestrians. The road would be converted from its existing role to become a corridor for cyclists wishing to ride their cycles from North Box Hill to southern points of the Metropolitan area. In December 2024 the SLR confirmed that it had accepted Whitehorse Council’s recommendations.
As a former CEO of Box Hill Hospital (1980 – 1990), I hold significant misgivings about this proposal which I have documented here: https://www.eastsidernews.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nelson-Rd-long-version-2.pdf.
The Clash: Higher Density Living and a Changing Climate
Geoff White
The Combined Residents of Whitehorse Action Groups (CROWAG) Forum held on Saturday 19th October at the Box Hill Community Arts Centre with over 80 attendees was both timely and compelling.
The theme – The Clash: Higher Density Living and a Changing Climate was prescient, given the State Government announcement the following day for upzoning 50 new activity centres across Melbourne to allow for high rise development up to 20 storeys.
To read the full article by Geoff White, please click here.
Victorian Government’s Planning Strategy
Paul Hamer MP
Melbourne is a growing city and will have a population in excess of 9 million in the 2050s. This is not a statement of ambition, but rather an estimate based on current population growth trends – factors outside the control of state government. However, all levels of government have a responsibility to take a long-term approach to ensure that there is housing, services and infrastructure available for our growing population.