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South Eastern Transport Strategy

Prepared for South Eastern Integrated Transport Group

Prepared by

AECOM Australia Pty Ltd Level 9, 8 Exhibition Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia T +61 3 9653 1234 F +61 3 9654 7117 www.aecom.com ABN 20 093 846 925

1 March 2010

60102207

© AECOM Australia Pty Ltd 2010

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Quality Information

Document South Eastern Transport Strategy

60102207 Ref http://vpo.au.aecomnet.com/projects/se transport strategy/8issueddocs/8.1 reports/south eastern transport strategy - final strategy.docx

Date 1 March 2010

Prepared by Ian Hopkins, Katherine Mitchell and Chris De Gruyter

Reviewed by Denis Leviny

Revision History

Authorised Revision Revision Details Date Name/Position Signature a 03-Dec-2009 Draft for SEITG review before Denis Leviny circulation to members National Market Segment Leader - Transport Planning 0 14-Jan-2010 For circulation to members Denis Leviny National Market Segment Leader - Transport Planning 1 02-Mar-2010 Final Strategy Denis Leviny National Market Segment Leader - Transport Planning

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Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 1.0 Overview – South Eastern Transport Strategy 3 1.1 Strengths of the Region 4 1.2 Challenges facing the Region 5 1.3 Strategy Purpose 5 1.4 Strategic Objectives 6 1.5 Structure of this Strategy 7 1.6 Background 8 2.0 Enhancing freight and logistics movements 11 2.1 Introduction 11 2.2 Challenges 11 2.3 Commitments 12 2.4 Strategic Actions 13 3.0 Building strategic links to the Port of Hastings 16 3.1 Introduction 16 3.2 Challenges 16 3.3 Commitments 17 3.4 Strategic Actions 18 4.0 Growing tourism with improved transport 22 4.1 Introduction 22 4.2 Challenges 22 4.3 Commitments 23 4.4 Strategic Actions 24 5.0 Building the Central Activities Districts 27 5.1 Introduction 27 5.2 Challenges 27 5.3 Commitments 28 5.4 Strategic Actions 30 6.0 Promoting transport mode choices 32 6.1 Introduction 32 6.2 Challenges 32 6.3 Commitments 33 6.4 Strategic Actions 35 7.0 Urban Growth 37 7.1 Introduction 37 7.2 Challenges 37 7.3 Commitments 38 7.4 Strategic Actions 39 8.0 Implementing the Strategy 41 9.0 Summary of Strategy 43 10.0 References 44

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Executive Summary Purpose of the South Eastern Integrated Transport Strategy The purpose of this Strategy is to outline a regional perspective on the transport directions established by State and Federal policies. It outlines regional priorities that are consistent with and build upon the established transport and land use policy directions. Context SEITG has prepared this strategy on behalf of its eight member councils: Yarra Ranges, Greater Dandenong, Kingston, Casey, Cardinia, Frankston, Mornington Peninsula and Bass Coast. AECOM has been commissioned to provide technical assistance to SEITG in the preparation of the Strategy. The Strategy is the second prepared by SEITG. A Strategic Regional Transport Assessment (SRTA) was completed in 2005. The SRTA was prepared in response to the Federal Government’s Auslink program. It supported the Region’s case for a number of transport projects. Since the SRTA was prepared, a suite of policy and infrastructure initiatives have been released that have significantly altered the transport environment across the metropolitan area and in the Region. There has been a significant commitment, particularly by the Victorian Government, to: • Develop Ringwood, Dandenong and Frankston as Central Activities Districts, to provide similar services and functions to central Melbourne, such as commercial, retail, highly specialised personal services, entertainment, education, government and tourism, significant employment concentrations, and high quality, well designed, living and working urban environments; • Complete missing links in the freeway network, including the orbital road network and links to the Mornington Peninsula; • Deliver public transport improvements to continue building bus service levels across the network, to address congestion on the rail system, and to supply public transport in growth areas; • Plan improvements to critical freight linkages, including further stages of the Dingley Arterial; • Formalise strategic transport networks, including designating freight networks for the first time; and • Develop the Port of Hastings over the next 30 years, focusing on cargoes displaced from the Port of Melbourne as trade grows. Strategic Responses In order to respond to the changing policy and transport environment, SEITG has identified four key Strategic Objectives to inform a strategic regional response. The four Strategic Objectives are: • Connecting to the World - Use transport assets to benefit the Region by maintaining and strengthening the Region’s external linkages. - Maximise the advantage of access to trading ports, industrial land, and strengths in freight and logistics. • Supporting Regional Development - Use transport to shape and support regional development in Melbourne’s South East. - Urban growth and intensification is an important driver of economic growth and diversification of opportunities. Tourism is a key element of regional development strategies in the rural parts of the Region. • Sharing the Benefits - Provide more equitable access to transport and economic opportunities, and work to minimise the disbenefits of transport systems. - Address long-standing problems with the social distribution of transport. Residents of the south east, due to poor transport alternatives, can experience various forms of transport disadvantage such as the need for high levels of car ownership, reduced financial freedom, or the inability to easily access services.

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• Protecting the Future - Reduce the vulnerability of the Region to changes in the transport environment. - Key amongst these are risks from the natural environment, such as climate change, risks from the market, such as peak oil, and risks from the transport system itself that reduce the capability to respond to changes – lack of alternatives to private vehicles and a reliance on travel.

To support these Strategic Objectives, a suite of specific Strategic Actions have also been identified. They reflect the priorities the Region will pursue in developing and seeking support for projects and other transport-related initiatives. The Actions are: • Identify and reserve Metropolitan Freight Terminal sites and associated road and rail access. • Designate and develop further the Principal Freight Network. • Develop the North East Link for its freight capability. • Identify and reserve a rail corridor from the National Rail Network to Hastings. • Designate additional principal freight routes to support access to Hastings. • Support a State/Federal partnership to upgrade road and rail links to Hastings. • Complete the Western Port ferry touring link. • Support the continuing development of trail networks. • Provide CBD-style public transport services to the Central Activities Districts. • Develop Transport Management Associations in the Region's CADs. • Improve access to the main public transport network. Priorities are park and ride, interchanges, feeder buses and rural social transit services. • Accelerate development of the arterial road grid in growth areas. • Provide a sustainable funding stream for arterial roads. • Improve processes to build a shared vision for development planning.

Implementing the Strategy During the course of the Strategy’s development a large number of potential projects were identified. A preliminary analysis of the priority and strategic fit of these projects is included in the Strategy.

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1.0 Overview – South Eastern Transport Strategy Melbourne’s South East comprises the eight local government areas of Yarra Ranges, Greater Dandenong, Kingston, Casey, Cardinia, Frankston, Mornington Peninsula and Bass Coast.

In this Strategy, these councils are referred to as: • the Region, and • Melbourne’s South East.

The Region is represented on shared transport issues by the South Eastern Integrated Transport Group (SEITG). This document is the transport strategy for the Region. It has been prepared by SEITG with technical assistance by AECOM. The Strategy outlines the Region’s responses to its most pressing transport issues. During the preparation of the Strategy numerous issues were identified; these have been recorded in a separate paper, titled

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“Stage 1 Paper: The Transport Environment”. The Strategy focuses on the most significant issues at the regional scale.

1.1 Strengths of the Region The Region has outstanding strengths that the Strategy builds on:

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1.2 Challenges facing the Region The Strategy responds to the major challenges facing the Region:

1.3 Strategy Purpose The purpose of this Strategy is to outline a regional perspective on the transport directions established by State and Federal policies. It outlines regional priorities that are consistent with and build upon the established directions.

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1.4 Strategic Objectives The South Eastern Transport Strategy aims to build on the strengths of the Region and address the challenges the Region faces. To achieve this, four overarching Strategic Objectives for the transport system in the Region have been identified.

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1.5 Structure of this Strategy The Strategy presents a series of Strategic Actions, structured by themes relevant to the most pressing issues facing the Region. The themes also reflect the Objectives of the strategy, combining to establish a balanced suite of transport initiatives.

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1.6 Background SEITG has prepared this strategy on behalf of its eight member councils: Yarra Ranges, Greater Dandenong, Kingston, Casey, Cardinia, Frankston, Mornington Peninsula and Bass Coast. AECOM has been commissioned to provide technical assistance to SEITG in the preparation of the Strategy. The Strategy is the second prepared by SEITG. A Strategic Regional Transport Assessment (SRTA) was completed in 2005. The SRTA was prepared in response to the Federal Government’s Auslink program. It supported the Region’s case for a number of transport projects. The SRTA identified approximately 116 projects to undertake in the region, ranging from major freeways and railway initiatives to small roundabout treatments. An audit of the SRTA found that the status of the recommended Actions is that many of the major projects identified are either complete or underway. Although a large number of actions are outstanding many of these are local projects that are not considered to be of Regional significance. Project status Percentage Completed actions 18 Actions currently being undertaken 25 Outstanding actions 49 Actions no longer relevant 8

Since the SRTA was prepared, a suite of policy and infrastructure initiatives have been released that have significantly altered the transport environment across the metropolitan area and in the Region. There has been a significant commitment, particularly by the Victorian Government, to: • Develop Ringwood, Dandenong and Frankston as Central Activities Districts, to provide similar services and functions to central Melbourne, such as commercial, retail, highly specialised personal services, entertainment, education, government and tourism, significant employment concentrations, and high quality, well designed, living and working urban environments; • Complete missing links in the freeway network, including the orbital road network and links to the Mornington Peninsula; • Deliver public transport improvements to continue building bus service levels across the network, to address congestion on the rail system, and to supply public transport in growth areas; • Plan improvements to critical freight linkages, including further stages of the Dingley Arterial; • Formalise strategic transport networks, including designating freight networks for the first time; and • Develop the Port of Hastings over the next 30 years, focusing on cargoes displaced from the Port of Melbourne as trade grows.

Major policies, directions and commitments are summarised below.

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As a result of the progress achieved through the SRTA and the changes in wider transport policy, SEITG has commissioned an updated South Eastern Transport Strategy. The project has involved extensive stakeholder consultation with representatives of SEITG member councils as well as key government delivery agencies. The study has: • reviewed policy and established strategies to identify major outstanding issues; • developed a framework for responding to the issues and specific Actions within the framework; • used a workshop process to establish priorities, and matched priorities to the relevant timeframes judged from the policy environment; and • drawn the themes together into this Strategy.

The study’s program is shown in the flowchart below.

Figure 1: Development of the Strategy

South Eastern Transport Strategy

Stage 1 Draft Strategy Final Strategy

Review of policy Development Stakeholder documents of Draft Actions Review

Council Audit of 2005 Final Strategy Stakeholder Workshop SRTA Input

Identification of Ranking issues

Government Stage 1 Report Refinement of Agency Strategic Actions Input

Draft Strategy

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2.0 Enhancing freight and logistics movements

2.1 Introduction The main Strategic Objective advanced by this theme is Supporting Regional Development.

A little under half of Melbourne’s total manufacturing industry output is produced in Melbourne’s south east, with the Greater Dandenong and Kingston areas providing over two-thirds of the region’s medium and advanced manufacturing output. The road transport system is particularly effective for freight movements with strong and direct east-west connections along the Monash Freeway Corridor and north-south along EastLink. These characteristics form the basis of the Region’s advantages for freight and logistics industries. These industries already contribute extensively to regional development, and continuing to support regional development by promoting these movements is strategically critical to the Region. In addition to the challenges of enhancing freight and logistics in the Region in the short to medium term, there will be very significant steps needed to support the long-term development of Hastings. These actions are the subject of the next chapter of the Strategy.

2.2 Challenges The regional economic development strategy prepared for the Region in 2009 emphasises the vital economic importance of freight and trade to Melbourne’s South East. The region has particular strategic advantages, with excellent access to trading ports and a good supply of industrial and employment land in Dandenong South and Pakenham allowing for innovative approaches to industrial and business development including integrated logistics planning and business co-location. Building on this strength is a priority. It is also important to overcome weaknesses in access to domestic interstate rail, and reliance on a single link to the national highway system. There are also destinations and facilities of critical economic importance to the south east that are located outside the region. Links to these are of high strategic importance. Key challenges include: • Developing new access routes to the proposed new Metropolitan Freight Terminals in Dandenong South and the interstate rail terminal;

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• Maintaining and improving access to the Port of Melbourne, Melbourne Airport and the national and state highway networks; • Maintaining and improving access to the national rail network, and gaining direct access in the long term; and • Maximising the transport and economic benefits of the proposed Metropolitan Freight Terminals.

2.3 Commitments The major Victorian Government commitments to the Region include:

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2.4 Strategic Actions The commitments to the Region put in place: • A clear network of future freight routes; • New freight terminals that will support economic development and activity in the Region; • The foundations for better connections to freight and logistics precincts. SEITG proposes to build on these commitments and has identified strategic actions to reflect the Region’s priorities for freight and logistics.

SEITG seeks the identification and reservation of the sites of the proposed Metropolitan Freight Terminals and road and rail access to them.

Priority: High Timeframe: Short Freight Futures proposes two Metropolitan Freight Terminal sites in the Region, located to the south of Dandenong. The sites for these have yet to be clarified and the role and nature of operations established. In the absence of clarity on these issues it is difficult to plan appropriate transport access arrangements, particularly for rail, which is less flexible than road. Identifying the sites and how they will work in the regional/metropolitan context is critical to their success. Equally, access arrangements need to be planned to ensure routes meet essential strategic prerequisites. The rail access route needs to: • Allow for regular, frequent shuttles (compatible with suburban train services) to other freight terminals (including the other metropolitan freight terminals, interstate rail terminals and the Port of Melbourne) in the short term; • Be compatible with a future link to a standard gauge rail line. This is unlikely to be provided until development at Hastings requires it; and • Provide for flexible train operations by time of day as far as possible. The road access route needs to: • Be suitable for High Productivity Freight Vehicles (HPFVs); • Be designated as part of the HPFV network; • Be linked to the Long Term HPFV Network (i.e. Eastlink or the Western Port Highway); and • Be designed so that all freight access to the site is from the Principal Freight Network, which may include Thompsons Road. Reserving the transport corridors for the site is a major contribution to the planning for a wider land-use strategy for associated development around the MFTs. Freight Futures proposes developing Activity Centres and appropriate land use planning, including buffer areas, around the Terminals. SEITG endorses this aim and considers that securely identifying the access corridors will be a catalyst for further detailed planning for a successful initiative.

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SEITG supports further designation and development of the Principal Freight Network.

Priority: High Timeframe: Short Revising the Principal Freight Network in the Region offers opportunities to better manage freight movements and their impacts. Key strategic additions to the Principal Freight Network are: • The Dingley Arterial route from South Gippsland Freeway to Warrigal Road. This is also an important action for supporting long term access to the Port of Hastings. • Koo Wee Rup Road and Bypass: For freight from South Gippsland, this is a vitally important link to both the emerging employment precincts of Pakenham South and the Princes Freeway corridor, which provides direct access to the Port of Melbourne, Melbourne Airport and rail terminals. Developing the Koo Wee Rup Road and bypass will assist in avoid an increase in freight traffic through Tooradin and Cranbourne town centres. • Thompsons Road (Extension) from Pakenham South (Koo Wee Rup bypass) to Eastlink. Designating this as a freight route provides additional access between the industrial and employment area planned in Pakenham South, the planned Metropolitan Freight Terminals, the Dingley corridor, and the established Dandenong South and Frankston/Carrum Downs freight precincts. SEITG notes that a short section of this route through Cranbourne has residential development abutting and nearby. Particular attention needs to be paid to amenity measures on this section. • The Bass Highway from Wonthaggi to Lang Lang. This important link provides the major road freight access to the Bass Coast. The section from Grantville northwards is already used by regular flows of trucks carrying building sand. Emerging new industrial and technology businesses on the Bass Coast, such as the desalination plant at Wonthaggi, may give rise to long-term changes in freight transport requirements. • Local linkages to sand extraction mines in Cardinia/Bass Coast: Extractive industries supplying the building and construction needs of greater Melbourne generate specialised freight transport needs that should be addressed by suitably designated and upgraded freight routes. In particular significant sand resources which are expected to become a major source of sand for the Melbourne supply area over the next 10 to 20 years are located at Lang Lang and Grantville. These resources are accessed on local roads through townships, with undesirable amenity impacts. Providing these new routes would also provide an opportunity to examine options to reprioritise use of some roads that comprise parts of the current PFN.

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• The Mornington Peninsula Freeway, Springvale Road between the Mornington Peninsula Freeway and Dingley Arterial, and Lower Dandenong Road between Springvale Road and Boundary Road, would all be less important for freight movements with the completion of the Dingley Arterial. Springvale Road is a key public transport route for an orbital SmartBus, and has adjacent schools and residential development that reduce its attractiveness as a freight linkage. Lower Dandenong Road also has adjacent residential development. Freight movements from Braeside are better accommodated by providing access on Boundary, Governor and Greens Road to Eastlink and the Dingley route. • Berwick-Cranbourne and Clyde-Five Ways Roads have buffer areas separating them from nearby residential development. However, this route is expected to become increasingly important for residential and public transport access to the growth area in Casey/Cardinia. This route is also designated as an important public transport linkage between Berwick and Cranbourne. With this changing role, the long-term inclusion of this route on the PFN may not be sustainable.

SEITG supports the development of the North East Link for its freight capability.

Priority: Medium Timeframe: Long The North East Link, a proposed motorway standard road linking the Eastern Freeway at Bulleen to the Metropolitan Ring Road at Greensborough, is of limited importance regionally for private car movement, but is considered to be of very high strategic importance to the Region for freight and logistics. The North East Link will provide the major access route to the Hume corridor, including the planned Donnybrook/Beveridge Intermodal Terminal, as well as providing an alternative to the Monash and CityLink corridor for Melbourne Airport access. It is expected that the North East Link will largely be in tunnel. Particular consideration will need to be given to how to ensure its route does not unduly compromise the link’s ability to effectively accommodate freight movements, including potentially HPFVs. A compromised North East Link would be of low value to Melbourne’s South East.

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3.0 Building strategic links to the Port of Hastings

3.1 Introduction The main Strategic Objectives supported by this theme are: Linking to the World and Supporting Regional Development.

The development of the Port of Hastings is of high strategic importance to the Region. Over time it is planned for the Port to become a major trading facility, with an important role in the import and export of a diverse range of commodities. The Port will help to link the Region to the world by supporting trade, manufacturing and technology development. The Port is also expected to generate a range of new land uses that are port-dependent, as well as opportunities for supporting businesses and industries. The Port’s long-term evolution will contribute to sustaining regional economic development well beyond the life of this Strategy.

3.2 Challenges One of the most important policy directions for the region is the nature of the development of the Port of Hastings and reinforcement of the strengths of the Region in freight and logistics. Given the relatively early stage of development of many of these proposals, there are many unresolved issues. Based on current trends, the first stage of the Hastings development is not likely to cause a large increase in train movements because the commodities likely to be handled at the Port are less well suited to rail transport. However, as container freight is introduced at the Port the role of rail is expected to grow in importance and will generate large numbers of train movements. The use of the Stony Point line will pose a number of issues, including: • conflicts with existing and planned passenger services on the Frankston and Stony Point lines; • amenity issues for adjacent landholders particularly where the line passes through residential areas and the Frankston CAD environment; and • increased delays at level crossings. The Hastings Port and Land Use Strategy outlines two potential rail corridors to Hastings from the National Rail Network. A preferred corridor must be resolved, but neither corridor is issue-free. The Eastlink route has the

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advantage of being co-located with a major freeway but it could result in regular freight trains passing through Frankston North, Baxter, Somerville and Tyabb. The Western Port corridor would pass through the Dandenong Central Activities District, require the acquisition of a large number of properties along its alignment, and would involve difficult engineering where it traverses rising ground south of Cranbourne-Frankston Road. In the Port’s earlier stages of development, access to it will primarily be by road. Road corridors to the Port have similar issues to the rail corridor – the Frankston-Flinders Road for example links Eastlink/Peninsula Link to the Port but runs through townships. The Western Port Highway is less problematic but is not consistently of the standard required for major freight movements. There will be a need to connect the freight routes more broadly in the Region, particularly to major industrial precincts. At the same time as the links are established to provide broad connectivity across the Region, there will be sensitive areas – particularly settlements – where impacts must be avoided or managed.

3.3 Commitments The major Victorian Government commitment has been the development of the Port of Hastings Land Use and Transport Strategy (PLUTS). PLUTS provides the port’s users and the community with a picture of how the port may evolve and grow in the future. The Victorian Government has formally responded to PLUTS and has adopted all the major recommendations of the strategy. In summary strategic transport features of PLUTS are:

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3.4 Strategic Actions Government has made a substantial commitment to the long-term development of the Region by outlining its plans for the development of Hastings. SEITG appreciates the efforts underway to address the transport issues raised by the Port. Actions to address the most pressing issues to resolve from the regional perspective are outlined below.

SEITG seeks the early identification and reservation of a rail corridor to the Port of Hastings and connection to the National Rail Network.

Priority: High Timeframe: Short The development of a high quality rail link integrated with the national rail network is critical to the long-term success of the planned Port at Hastings and the diversion of trucks away from the regional road network.

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Existing strategies for access to Hastings flag that the existing Frankston and Stony Point line may need to provide interim access to container freight as the Port develops. However, the Port’s development strategy does not contemplate substantial container developments until around 2020. This means there is a window of opportunity to complete planning and funding processes to ensure that a corridor is identified and reserved for future development to minimise or eliminate the use of the Frankston line for container freight trains. SEITG therefore supports the Government’s efforts to formalise a preferred rail access corridor to Hastings. Of the two candidate routes, SEITG notes the advantages of the Eastlink route via the Dandenong Rail Corridor are that it: • reduces impacts on the Central Activities Districts at both Dandenong and Frankston by ensuring that the main flow of freight trains would not be routed through these city centres; • leverages existing infrastructure, established reservations and past provision for future rail infrastructure;

• is nominated by the Victorian Government as a Priority Pipeline Project in its 2009 Infrastructure Australia submission. Additional strategic work is still being undertaken to assess the most feasible of these alignments and issues of access to the broader metropolitan and national rail network. Resolution of the corridor is a strategic priority supported by SEITG.

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SEITG supports the designation of extensions to the Principal Freight Network to support access to Hastings.

Priority: High Timeframe: Short The Principal Freight Network should be expanded to formalise the preferred main access routes to Hastings. Strategic routes to consider including on the Principal Freight Network include: • the Hastings Rail Link, to replace the Frankston/Stony Point line in the Principal Freight Network; • The Dingley Arterial route from South Gippsland Freeway to Warrigal Road. This should be planned as the preferred route from Kingston and Dandenong South Industrial Precincts to the Port of Hastings (in preference to the Mornington Peninsula and Peninsula Link options); • The missing link on the South Gippsland/Monash/Princes Freeway intersection; • Thompsons Road from the Eastlink interchange at Carrum Downs to Western Port Highway; • The Koo Wee Rup Road and Bypass, South Gippsland Highway, Baxter-Tooradin Road and Tyabb- Tooradin Road, with further exploration of options to mitigate impacts on Tooradin township. SEITG seeks the inclusion of these routes in the Principal Freight Network. The designation of the routes will send a clear signal to Councils, businesses and transport providers of the long-term plan for the Region’s access. SEITG considers that placing a higher emphasis on Thompsons Road and the Dingley Arterial will help to reduce pressures to develop a formal link between Peninsula Link and the Port of Hastings. The High Productivity Freight Network should also be expanded. In line with the principles outlined in Freight Futures, this should be limited in extent to only the very most important links. These are proposed to be: • The Dingley Arterial route; • The missing link on the South Gippsland/Monash/Princes Freeway intersection; and • Thompsons Road from the Eastlink interchange at Carrum Downs to Western Port Highway.

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SEITG supports a State/Federal partnership to upgrade road and rail links to Hastings.

Priority: Medium Timeframe: Medium SEITG supports the Victorian Government leading the resolution of the Hastings Rail Link corridor, due to the primarily local and regional issues highlighted by the planning process. However, once the alignment is resolved and reserved, SEITG will advocate to the Federal Government for its involvement in the timely construction of the railway. The line will have immediate benefits for the more efficient movement of existing freight traffic on the railway and can contribute to the efficient operation of the planned Metropolitan Freight Terminals in Dandenong. As a linkage to multiple major freight facilities, it is appropriate that the Federal Government have a major role in funding the construction of the line.

The Western Port Highway is clearly identified as the principal strategic road access to Hastings. Ongoing upgrades to prepare this road for a port access function are consistent with it being included on the National Network and having Federal support. SEITG sees Federal involvement in the planned upgrade of the road to freeway conditions as consistent with its important Port access network function.

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4.0 Growing tourism with improved transport

4.1 Introduction The main Strategic Objectives advanced by this theme are Supporting Regional Development and Sharing the Benefits.

Altho ugh the urban areas of the Region have particular strengths in freight, logistics, manufacturing and technology, the rural parts of the Region are recognised as ‘Melbourne’s Playground’, with particular strengths in trail-based tourism, car touring, food and wine, golf, events and nature-based tourism. The economic benefits of tourism will mainly flow to the parts of the Region that will benefit less from the freight and logistics related Actions described earlier. As a result, these Actions are important for ensuring that the whole Region benefits from transport improvements.

4.2 Challenges The principal challenge for tourism in the Region is to sustainably increase its economic contribution. Yarra Ranges already attracts over 1.6 million visitors each year. Tourism constitutes four percent of the local economy and provides six percent of the jobs, with very high growth potential. 3.4 million people visit Bass Coast each year, with visitors spending some $440 million in the Shire. Over half of Bass Coast’s businesses rely on tourism for income; over 2100 jobs (a quarter of the local workforce) are directly related to tourism. The tourism attractions of the region are often based around natural attractions. For example almost half the visitors to Bass Coast associated the area with penguins and other fauna; most other visitors associated it with surfing and beaches. The Dandenong Ranges National Park is estimated to attract some 2 million visitors each year. There are very high numbers of day visitors. If day visits can be converted into overnight stays, the economic value increases by over three hundred percent.

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4.3 Commitments The principal commitments to the transport aspects of the Region’s tourism industry have been the establishment of strategic directions by Tourism Victoria.

The need is to turn these strategic directions into actions by delivery agencies.

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4.4 Strategic Actions The strategic framework for tourism in the region is very strong. This Strategy identifies that the actions required are to secure funding for the major transformative initiatives that have a transport component.

SEITG will advocate for the completion of the Western Port ferry touring link.

Priority: Medium Timeframe: Medium This initative seeks the delivery of the long considered Western Port car ferry link between Stony Point and Cowes. SEITG sees this link as an important contribution to encouraging longer and more intensive tourism visits to the Region. The ferry will potentially generate day trips around Western Port (similar to the day tour of Port Phillip that is currently possible) as well as longer tours that link the Bass Coast and Mornington Peninsula. Regional tourism authorities will be supported in developing further touring experiences that dovetail with a new link.

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SEITG supports the development of strategies to manage peak tourism transport demands.

Priority: Medium Timeframe: Medium The Mornington Peninsula, Phillip Island and the Yarra Ranges are ‘Melbourne’s Playground’ and, during peak seasons, experience intensive transport demand. During the peak season, transport infrastructure that adequately meets normal local travel requirements is swamped by the requirement to accommodate very large numbers of temporary residents and day visitors who overwhelmingly use private transport. The tourism precincts have limited access routes due to geographical constraints, with Phillip Island and the western half of the Peninsula particularly affected; Phillip Island is currently totally reliant on the bridge from San Remo to provide car access and the Peninsula similarly depends on Point Nepean Road from Rosebud west to Portsea. The congestion subsequently experienced contributes to making alternative travel modes less attractive. Bus services experience delays and walking and cycling are reduced in safety and amenity. As a result there is a vicious cycle of transport impacts, because the reduced attractiveness of the alternatives reinforces the reliance on private transport. Strategies that could be considered to respond to these issues may include: • Park and Ride with supporting shuttle buses and a closure of tourist areas to general traffic; • Introduction of road pricing during peak seasons, coupled with improved alternative transport modes; • Rationing of scarce parking and road space to local residents or visitors only through a permit system; • Provision of seasonal additional public transport services; • Seasonal bus priority; • Improved cycle infrastructure and information to encourage the use of bicycles for local trips by holidaymakers; • Managing roads to improve peak flows (such as a ‘tidal’ system on the San Remo bridge); and • Additional road space, such as a Rye Bypass or a second San Remo bridge. The wide range of possible responses to seasonal congestion and traffic management problems suggests that an appropriate response is to specifically investigate each seasonal ‘hotspot’ and develop strategies to address identified issues in conjunction with Councils, roads and public transport authorities.

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SEITG will seek support for the continuing development of trail networks.

Priority: Low Timeframe: Long The Bayside, Yarra Ranges and Bass Coast recreational trail networks are of State significance as a tourism asset. SEITG supports the ongoing development of these trails. They have the potential to form the backbone of much of the future tourism development in rural parts of the Region. When associated developments such as new hospitality businesses are taken into account the economic role of the networks can potentially be significant. The average visitor day injects $51.50 into the local economy, according to a study by Latrobe University. The effect of developing a complex network that extends and combines existing trails may be to encourage longer stays with higher economic contribution. Compared to other initiatives in the Strategy, the impact of the trail networks will be felt in a smaller area and the economic benefits are unlikely to be as large as those associated with major initiatives.

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5.0 Building the Central Activities Districts

5.1 Introduction The main Strategic Objectives advanced by this theme are Supporting Regional Development, Sharing the Benefits and Protecting the Future.

Melbourne @ 5 million outlines a vision for Dandenong, Frankston and Ringwood (located just outside the Region but serving Yarra Ranges) to become major centres that provide: • Significant CBD-type jobs and commercial services; • A strong and diverse retail sector; • Specialised goods and services drawing on a large regional catchment; • Significant opportunities for housing redevelopment in and around these centres; • High levels of accessibility for walking, cycling, public transport or car by being located at junctions in the Principal Public Transport Network; and • Vibrant centres of community activity with a range of public facilities. The development of CADs support regional economic development. They also offer the potential to bring new opportunities to the Region, allowing easier access to the benefits of urban development to the Region’s residents. Finally, the development of CADs is expected to reduce total travel, reduce reliance on critical transport corridors, and make the Region even more self-sufficient.

5.2 Challenges Melbourne’s south east has a more balanced polycentric form than a stand-alone city would. In Melbourne, the inner city is still the single most intensive node of activity in the greater metropolitan area. The south east does not have a single intensive centre; it has many. Dandenong is the pre-eminent centre overall, but other key activity nodes are also highly important to the Region. Frankston and Ringwood, along with Dandenong, are the designated Central Activities Districts for the area. The relative location of these centres help to disperse travel. Dispersed travel patterns tend to make it more difficult to justify providing trains, trams and bus rapid transit, the types of public transport preferred by many potential

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customers. International experience shows that the absolute minimum level of service at which customers will begin to consider choosing urban public transport services because they are perceived as acceptably frequent is four services per hour, but six to ten services per hour is most effective. At these service levels, public transport undergoes a transformation from a social transit role to a mass transit role, fundamentally altering the role it can play in a prosperous and active activity centre. The Region’s major activity centres in Dandenong, Frankston and Ringwood, and its major employment precincts in Dandenong South and Kingston are relatively poorly served by Melbourne’s radial networks which are better designed to meet the needs of central Melbourne. New transport corridors between the centres have been developed, but with a focus on the role of these links as orbital links at the metropolitan scale rather than inter- centre routes. The designation of Dandenong, Frankston and Ringwood as Central Activities Districts will intensify activity in these three key centres. As CADs, they will have particular strengths in employment, commercial services, retail, specialised goods and services, housing, accessibility and community activity. These new uses will require well focused and efficient public transport networks.

5.3 Commitments Existing Victorian Government commitments to the CADs include:

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5.4 Strategic Actions CADs in the Region are being supported by: • Investment in revitalisation and urban development; • Major road infrastructure to overcome congestion problems; • Station upgrades that create the public transport nodes as gateways to the CADs. SEITG believes it is now time to seek the public transport services needed to support these centres as the business and employment core areas for the Region, and to focus on establishing sustainable transport patterns in these areas.

SEITG will advocate for CBD-style public transport services to the Central Activities Districts.

Priority: High Timeframe: Ongoing The provision of improved public transport to the CADs will be critical to their success as the key centres of Melbourne’s South East. SEITG sees the provision of public transport as integral to: • Providing the transport capacity needed to allow land use intensification to occur; • Encouraging the establishment of white-collar employment opportunities needed in the Region; • Increasing the number of pedestrians in the CADs, creating the urban atmosphere and street-level activity seen as important for the knowledge-based economy that the CADs will be centres for; and • Reducing the impact of traffic in the CADs, allowing other uses to take precedence. Because of the large catchment of each CAD, provision of CBD-style public transport networks will help to provide most of the suburban area of the Region with good public transport access. The CADs’ urban catchments extend at least from Lilydale and Belgrave in the north to Pakenham in the east and Mornington in the south. The new growth areas of the Region also fall within this catchment, and should be provided with high service levels from early in their development. Elements of SEITG’s vision for CBD-style public transport services for the CADs are:

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SEITG will support the development of Transport Management Associations in the Region’s CADs.

Priority: Medium Timeframe: Medium A Transport Management Association (TMA) is a grouping, usually geographic in nature, of employers working together with governments at both state and local level as well as transport providers to develop and implement travel demand management solutions to identified transport problems. As they develop, CADs will have particularly intensive transport requirements. Walking and cycling are expected to become increasingly important and the use of private motorised transport is expected to decline over time. A TMA would help to manage this transition. It would also have an advocacy role for infrastructure improvements for these transport modes, such as identifying priorities for completing cycle links into the CADs. A TMA would be an appropriate forum for exploring new and innovative approaches to managing routine transport tasks in the CADs. Activities such as goods deliveries and waste collection could lend themselves to concepts such as the ‘last kilometre’ approach identified in Freight Futures. A mature Transport Management Association would be well-placed to led appraisal of similar initiatives.

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6.0 Promoting transport mode choices

6.1 Introduction The main Strategic Objectives advanced by this theme are Sharing the Benefits and Protecting the Future.

The Region is highly dependent on mobility provided by the private car. Creating alternatives to excessive car ownership and use is important, to ensure that: • Residents of the Region are able to access the opportunities available for employment, education, recreation and other activities; • The economic productivity of the Region is not affected by excessive personal transport costs; and • The negative impacts of transport are reduced by increased use of sustainable modes.

6.2 Challenges The Region is highly dependent on car use. Car is the dominant mode of transport for those residing in Melbourne’s south east. The Region is more dependent on cars than Melbourne overall. 84 percent of all trips are made by car. Over half of all households in the Region have two or more motor vehicles; only 7 percent manage without a car. Outer suburban areas generally have higher proportions of residents on low incomes who are maintaining multiple cars per household than the middle and inner suburbs. It has been estimated that households owning two or more cars in outer Melbourne spend more than half of their income on transport costs. The factors that contribute to multiple car ownership are complex. In some cases ‘forced’ car ownership may be occurring, where more cars are owned than the household would otherwise prefer, due to a lack of transport alternatives. Due to poor transport alternatives, residents of the Region can experience various forms of transport disadvantage such as high forced car ownership, reduced financial freedom, or simple inability to access services. The challenges are: • How to increase transport services for the transport disadvantaged;

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• Reducing excessive costs of transport where there is high dependence on multiple car ownership; • Appropriately distributing the positive and negative impacts of transport access and infrastructure; • Using transport to widen access to opportunities for employment, learning and social interaction; • Providing equitable access to the critical transport infrastructure; • Promoting more sustainable forms of transport.

6.3 Commitments Major Victorian Government commitments in the Region include:

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6.4 Strategic Actions SEITG welcomes the Government’s strategies that are in place, but more needs to be done. More innovative and creative approaches to overcoming some key transport disadvantages could be considered, such as new approaches to bringing people to and from the main public transport network. There remains a need to overcome isolation in the rural parts of the Region.

SEITG seeks measures that improve access to the public transport network. Priorities are park and ride, feeder buses and rural social transit services.

Priority: High Timeframe: Ongoing

SEITG is calling for the CADs to be provided with a high quality public transport network that will provide a level and quality of service similar to that provided to Melbourne’s CBD. This is the highest priority for public transport provision in the Region.

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However, there are a number of characteristics of the Region that make the provision of a comprehensively good regional public transport network difficult to achieve. • The development patterns in some of the older established suburbs have built in a high dependence on the private car; • Large parts of the Region are rural and have relatively low population densities and dispersed settlement patterns; and • A significant share of the Region’s employment is located in industrial areas which are difficult to serve by public transport, because of the land use layout, the road networks, and the shift-based nature of the employment on offer. In these areas, alternative strategies are necessary to increase access to the main network. SEITG supports these measures as complementary to the provision of a core public transport system. Park and Ride has an important role in providing effective access to the main public transport network where other access modes are unattractive. Park and Ride is considered of most importance in the rural and outer suburban parts of the Region. Specialised feeder bus services are needed both to take customers to the trunk transport system and to provide access from the main network into specialised employment precincts such as Dandenong South. There are opportunities to be more innovative in the provision of these services to overcome some of the difficulties experienced for conventional public transport. For example: • Provision of services to industrial areas may be best co-ordinated by an alliance of local employers; • Flexible services can more effectively serve the winding and indirect suburban road networks that characterise parts of the Region. Some parts of the Region, particularly the rural areas, have very little choice of transport. These areas are unlikely to support regular public transport services, but provision of a basic social transit style service can still make a significant contribution to overcoming social isolation and exclusion.

SEITG also supports the extension of this philosophy to the new growth areas. The provision of a high quality trunk public transport network that establishes sustainable transport patterns from the outset of urban development must take precedence over the provision of socially necessary services that are ineffective at achieving modal shift. SEITG therefore supports planning the growth areas to design out the requirement for winding indirect suburban bus services in favour of a plan that establishes only trunk services. If this is not possible, SEITG favours the provision of a high level of service on key routes as a priority with the social needs to be supplemented later as funding permits.

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7.0 Urban Growth

7.1 Introduction The main Strategic Objective advanced by this theme is Supporting Regional Development. Urban growth is one the fundamental drivers of economic growth and presents opportunities to create new urban environments that both appeal to the targeted demographics and can support the activities that can help economic diversification in the region.

7.2 Challenges Melbourne’s south east has a population and economy similar in scale to a discrete city such as Adelaide. The land use strategies and forms that have emerged as the south east has developed pose challenges. Most discrete cities develop around a well-defined city centre which is usually the focal point for an urban radial transport network, particularly on its public transport system. By contrast, Melbourne’s south east has developed as a suburban fringe for a Central Business District located outside the region. As a result the transport system in the region has clearly defined corridors on the public transport and roads system that pass through the region as they converge on the CBD. Although the limits of greenfield developments in the south east are now on the horizon, there are still numerous sites that are expected to be developed over the next two decades. These include the designated areas in Officer and Pakenham as well as the emerging areas around Clyde and Dalmore in the Melbourne @ 5 million Investigation Area. These areas, including major employment precincts such as Pakenham South, are intended to help provide the opportunity of one job per household locally. The new growth areas are intended to develop along more sustainable lines than the car-oriented suburban developments of the 1960s onwards, by being more intensively developed and designed in order to support better public transport, as well as by providing more opportunities to ‘live local’. As the overall population profile in the region is ageing and there are changes in land use patterns across the region, we expect to see increasing population concentration in the various urban centres that provide access to services, particularly retail, recreation, health and education services. The region’s major central cities will continue to grow more strongly than most other locations in the region.

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Concentrated urban population growth will lead to increased demand for residential housing in the urban growth areas, particularly in Cardinia and Casey. To satisfy this demand for housing stock, it will be necessary to increase the overall supply, leading to an increase in demand for residential land, or in some cases redevelopment or reuse of urban sites. The increased demand for residential housing will be exacerbated by trends towards smaller household sizes, mainly as a result of an ageing population. Urban development and population growth likewise leads to (or is led by) employment growth. Demand for land is increased with demand for retail, services and various commercial and light industrial uses that is directly related to the size of the residential population. Changes in industry structure will also lead to an increase in demand for land, but this demand will depend on the rate of re-use of existing sites, relative cost structures of reuse compared with Greenfield development. These development patterns may: • Create increased peak demands on existing infrastructure, but less than previous development in the Region, because more employment will be provided locally; • Change the base use of existing rural roads, transforming their purpose and function; • Generate increased counter-peak use of transport, which will improve the efficiency of the system but potentially reduce the appeal and effectiveness of sustainable modes; and • Require access to be provided to important destinations elsewhere in the region that are less suited for sustainable transport access; There is a gap between the agreed plans for the Region and the function of the road system. Although the future purpose of the road may be clear, decisions and funding responsibility for the network is based on the present uses of the roads.

7.3 Commitments Major commitments in the Region include:

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7.4 Strategic Actions SEITG’s Strategic Actions for the urban growth areas focus on providing the core transport infrastructure for regional-scale access. This infrastructure will support the CBD-style public transport services that are envisaged for the surroundings of each CAD. Getting these arterial roads funded and in place effectively, in a strategic layout that supports freight and public transport supply, will underpin the successful development of these new communities.

SEITG supports the more rapid development of the arterial road grid in growth areas.

Priority: High Timeframe: Medium The arterial road network is crucial to the effective development of the growth areas in the Region. Key issues that require attention include: • The completion of east-west links across Cardinia Creek, to provide adequate connectivity to support the Officer/Pakenham South employment precinct; • Additional crossings of the Cranbourne rail line, to improve east-west connectivity; • Establishing suitable north- south links in Cardinia where the east-west Princes Freeway corridor is a major access route; and • Establishing appropriate arterial road networks on the Mornington Peninsula and returning other routes to a local access role. These roads will be the future primary public transport, light freight and private transport access routes for much of the Region’s new urban development. Many of the Region’s future arterial roads are already in place, but as minor rural roads managed by Councils.

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SEITG seeks a sustainable funding stream for arterial roads.

Priority: High Timeframe: Short Although the outer suburban arterial roads fund is substantial at $1.9 billion, it is shared across the metropolitan area. With the growth expected across metropolitan Melbourne the fund is unlikely to be adequate to meet all the identified arterial road needs. The Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution (GAIC) scheme provides a mechanism that can contribute to addressing this longstanding issue. Formal identification of future arterials in framework and precinct planning can be a prerequisite for GAIC to be allocated to VicRoads in order for it to assume the responsibility for the appropriate development of the arterial road as urban land uses are established.

SEITG supports process improvements that build a shared vision for development planning.

Priority: High Timeframe: Medium The State Government has established a series of principles and guidelines to shape land-use and transport planning in the growth areas. These include the Public Transport Guidelines for Land Use and Development and the Precinct Structure Planning Guidelines. Desirably, these principles and guidelines will continue to be consolidated so that all stakeholders, including Councils and developers, share a consistent and clear vision for the development of the region. This will help to avoid inconsistencies where developments that do not integrate well with the aims of all levels of Government are presented for consideration.

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8.0 Implementing the Strategy The South Eastern Transport Strategy outlines strategic directions and actions to address the transport challenges of the Region. At the time of preparing the Strategy, a range of important potential projects were identified in consultation with member Councils. These range from small-scale bus services to major new road and rail infrastructure. The table below highlights some key potential projects and the timeframes that SEITG seeks for their implementation. Over time, a wide range of projects that advance the Strategy are likely to be developed. Projects identified in 2010 may become less urgent if new strategic needs emerge, and new approaches to respond to the strategic directions may be identified. The table below should not be considered definitive; SEITG should regularly review and update projects that fit with the Strategy.

Strategies Short term projects Medium term projects Long term projects Identify and • Undertake planning • Build road links as • Build rail links as reserve studies required required Metropolitan • Secure reservations Freight Terminal • Identify site and corridor sites and protection measures. associated road and rail access. Designate and • Formalise network • Upgrade existing links • Expand PFN with growth further develop designation in State and • Complete high priority area development e.g. the Principal regional transport new and upgraded links Thompsons Road Freight strategies and planning e.g. Dingley Arterial, Koo Network; schemes, including new Wee Rup Road and Designate sections identified in this Bypass, Lang Lang additional strategy Bypass principal freight routes to support access to Hastings. Develop the • Undertake planning • Secure approvals and • Construct link North East Link studies reservations for its freight capability. Identify and • Undertake planning • • Construct rail reserve a rail studies infrastructure to support corridor from • Secure reservation container traffic in the National Hastings. Rail Network to Hastings. Support a • Establish a SEITG forum • Secure federal funds for • Secure federal funds for State/Federal with State and Federal upgraded road links rail links partnership to representatives • Undertake ongoing upgrade road upgrades of Western and rail links to Port Highway to freeway Hastings. status Complete the • Complete business case • Implement ferry links • Review and upgrade Western Port touring route ferry touring link.

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Strategies Short term projects Medium term projects Long term projects Support the • Completion of key • Continued development • Expansion and linking of continuing ‘missing links’ e.g. Bay of major off-road routes development of trail into Frankston recreational trail assets – trail networks. Bass Coast, Yarra Ranges, Mornington Peninsula Provide CBD- • Rollout the Metropolitan • Commitment to an • Delivery of improved rail style public Bus Services Review extension of Cranbourne services for Clyde transport services recommendations rail line to the Clyde area • Delivery of improved rail to the Central • Allocate road space to (given an extended services for Baxter Activities UGB). prioritise on-road public • Direct links to the Districts – transport • Four to six services per proposed Metro 1 and Dandenong and • Complete station hour throughout the day Metro 2 services Frankston. on all major routes upgrades and • Ringwood line upgrades linking CADs to their interchange (e.g. third track, catchments e.g. improvements duplication) - Fountain Gate – • Duplicate Cranbourne • Bus rapid transit and/or Frankston rail line and undertake rail to link the CADs and Cranbourne East - Frankston – reshape their catchments extension Rosebud • Undertake new railway - Pakenham – stations for growth areas Dandenong – – Cardinia Road, Southland Lynbrook - Dandenong - Oakleigh • Early introduction of high service level public transport into new growth areas Develop • Scope TMA opportunities • Establish TMAs • Review TMAs Transport Management Associations in the Region's CADs. Improve access • Expanded park and ride • Pakenham Station • Flexible and demand to the main facilities at agreed upgrade responsive services public transport stations • Expansion of services to • Major station upgrades network. • Increase rural bus keep pace with growth • New “Park and Ride” Priorities are services where they can area development specific stations e.g. park and ride, help overcome transport Peninsula Link station on interchanges, disadvantage or address Stony Point line; General feeder buses high transport need Motors restoration and rural social • Provide a Dandenong transit services. South industrial area bus service Accelerate • Cardinia Road • Grade separation of key • Completion of Koo Wee development of duplication level crossings Rup Road and Bypass to the arterial road • McGregor Road • Extension of Thompsons freeway standards grid in growth duplication Road through to Koo areas. Wee Rup road • Koo Wee Rup Road and Bypass: Stage 1

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9.0 Summary of Strategy Strategic Strategic Objectives Actions

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10.0 References Australian Government Department of Climate Change website, www.climatechange.gov.au, 2009 Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Nation Building website, http://www.nationbuildingprogram.gov.au/index.aspx, 2009 Beeton, S. An Economic Analysis of Rail Trails in Victoria, Australia, available online at http://www.latrobe.edu.au/bus/Rail%20Trails%20Report.pdf, accessed on 14 December 2009 Climate Change Risks to Australia’s Coast, available on the Australian Department of Climate Change website at: http://www.climatechange.gov.au/en/publications/coastline/climate-change-risks-to-australias-coasts.aspx, 2009 Currie G and Senbergs Z (2007) ‘Exploring Forced Car Ownership in Metropolitan Melbourne’ Australasian Transport Research Forum 2007 Currie, G., Exploring Transport, Social Exclusion and Well Being in (Metropolitan) Victoria –Preliminary Findings, presentation to the Transport Economics Forum at Department of Transport Theatrette, Tuesday 8th September 2009 Currie, G., Quantifying spatial gaps in public transport supply based on social needs, J. Transp. Geogr. (2009) Delivering Melbourne’s newest sustainable communities: Amendment VC55, available online on the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development website at http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenpl.nsf/LinkView/C350816525A0D3A3CA2575D6001DAB9ECEE2CCA29F0B7 E7CCA2572DC001F183F Dodson, J., and Sipe, N., Unsettling Suburbia: The New Landscape of Oil and Mortgage Vulnerability in Australian Cities, Griffith University Urban Research Program Research Paper 17, August 2008, available online at http://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/88851/urp-rp17-dodson-sipe-2008.pdf

“Economic Impact of Tourism in the Bass Coast Shire”, available online at http://business.basscoast.vic.gov.au/uploads/Summary%20Impact%20of%20Tourism_1.pdf, accessed on 16 December 2009 Freight Futures: the Victorian Freight Network Strategy, available online on the Victorian Department of Transport website at http://www.doi.vic.gov.au/doi/internet/Freight.nsf/AllDocs/2D628B726C78852ACA256E050004131F HiTrans, HiTrans Best Practice Guide 2: Public transport - Planning the networks, 2005 Impacts of Climate Change on Settlements in the Western Port Region: Climate Change Risks and Adaptation, available online on the Western Port Greenhouse Alliance website at http://www.wpga.org.au/projects/Final_Risks_and_Adaptation.pdf, October 2008 Melbourne @ 5 million – a planning update to Melbourne 2030, available online on the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development website at http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenpl.nsf/LinkView/1352EB2F109044AFCA2575120016BE8B25FA24FDEB7476 BACA25761E001FDF4D Port Futures: New Priorities and Directions for Victoria’s Ports System, available online on the Victorian Department of Transport website at http://www.transport.vic.gov.au/DOI/DOIElect.nsf/$UNIDS+for+Web+Display/126A69B3406082D3CA25761F007 EC3A8/$FILE/PortFutures.pdf Port Land Use and Transport Strategy, available online on the Port of Hastings website, http://www.portofhastings.vic.gov.au/html/s02_article/default.asp?nav_top_id=57&nav_cat_id=173&dsb=1278, 2009 Regional Economic Strategy for Melbourne’s South East (2009-2030), available online at http://www.greaterdandenong.com/Resources/SiteDocuments/sid1_Final%20MSE%20Strat%202009.PDF The Victorian Transport Plan, available online on the Victorian Department of Transport website at http://www4.transport.vic.gov.au/vtp/pdfs/vtp.pdf, 2009

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Victoria’s Project Prioritisation Submission to Infrastructure Australia 2009, available online at http://www.transport.vic.gov.au/DOI/DOIElect.nsf/$UNIDS+for+Web+Display/60F24D42DB72B18DCA257680008 14D34/$FILE/IA-Submission-2009.pdf, accessed on 10 December 2009

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