INSIDE THIS EDITION…
Drysdale & Clifton Springs
BELLARINE THROUGH THE LENSES, PAGE 5
September 2016
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The picture of perfection DARREN Henry’s photograph of Clifton Springs is just one of the many that will be on display at the Bellarine Camera Club’s 6th Annual Photographic Exhibition at Springdale Community Hall in Drysdale on 15 and 16 October. See inside for the full story. 158426
Rail bottom line “We lost government prior to the release of the document and it was only a month ago through the FOI process that we could get the copy, with all the financials redacted. The fact is that financial information there indicates it may well have merit, except the Labor Government doesn’t want to invest in rail on the Bellarine. I intend to follow through and get the financials so we can see a proper assessment of the merits to provide that rail from Drysdale to South Geelong.” Mr Ramsay said Bellarine MP Lisa Neville had revealed the document to the media several weeks ago after learning that he intended to release it to the community at Drysdale. “We were planning to present the document to the community this week,
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but obviously Lisa Neville got wind of this and rushed out a public release for the report,” he said. “She has lied to the media, saying the report was done in secrecy, when the community had asked us to do the feasibility study in the first place and it was included in the budget. The Member for Bellarine says she wasn’t aware the community had asked for it, but I suspect the fact that she doesn’t live in her electorate or have an office in the electorate has something to do with that. Ms Neville is totally disengaged with the people she’s meant to be represent and she’s hit the panic button when she realised I was going to release this document to the community.” In response, Lisa Neville said:
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“Mr Ramsay’s attack on me for publically releasing this rail report that his government commissioned and kept locked away through an election year once again highlights his sheer hypocrisy. This report was completed in mid 2014 and Mr Ramsay, and the then Liberal government, not only failed to release it, they did not even mention it. Their lips were sealed. They also failed to consult anyone in compiling it, especially the many residents who could potentially have a heavy rail built alongside their homes. And in relation to cost figures, Mr Ramsay well knows that such figures are not released for commercial reasons. Now that I have had this report released I welcome a community conversation about alternate and improved public transport options for the Bellarine.”
Simon Ramsay presents the Rail Revival report to Queenscliff resident Ted Beggs at Drysdale railway station. 158386
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WESTERN Victoria Region MP Simon Ramsay has called on the State Government to release the financial data from a feasibility study on a potential Drysdale-to-Geelong passenger rail. Mr Ramsay accessed the report through a Freedom of Information Act request and said it was crucial to investigate the Bellarine Peninsula’s transport options to plan ahead for the future of its growing communities. “When Shadow Minister for Transport David Hodgett visited earlier this year, we foreshadowed that the Napthine Government had done a feasibility study and we were going to put out a Freedom of Information request to have the study released to the community,” he said.