Difference between revisions of "The Story of MITS"

From Brunswiki
m
Line 33: Line 33:
 
==Key Documents==
 
==Key Documents==
  
MITS 2019
+
[https://www.moreland.vic.gov.au/globalassets/key-docs/policy-strategy-plan/mits-2019.pdf MITS 2019]
 
 
Parking Implementation Plan
 
 
 
  
 +
[https://www.moreland.vic.gov.au/globalassets/key-docs/policy-strategy-plan/parking-implementation-plan-2019.pdf        Parking Implementation Plan]
  
 
==Background==
 
==Background==

Revision as of 13:03, 6 October 2020

This research is based on going through the records of council meetings of the present term, checking on factual matters with council officers and other officials and interviewing all councillors willing to cooperate. This is only the first version of the report, and it is published to coincide with the beginning of the postal voting period of the 2020 council election. It is based on finite investigation and limited contributions from participants. Some of it is necessarily surmise. Some of it will be wrong. Publishing the first version should encourage more input.

Conclusions are tentative, facts subject to correction and enlargement. It is not the end of the story.

I mean to be objective about facts and objective about opinions but here and there, if you find something that is more opinion (about opinions or facts) than fact, please supply a contrary opinion and we can flag the point as debatable.

Summary

To begin with the conclusions, tentative as they are, the Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy (MITS) project stands out as a notable failure of the present council term. The result is wasted time and money and likely missed opportunities. MITS was misconceived in some ways but not fatally so and even now a satisfactory resolution might be possible though it may not be possible for this council or the next to grasp it. That is how it looks.

The evidence is that ALP councillors torpedoed MITS for their own purposes and Greens councillors bailed out as public opinion turned unfavourable. There is no particular conclusion to be drawn about independent councillors but the MITS was a collective project and a collective failure.

Cr Yildiz has said publically and to me that the MITS project turned into a waste of money. Cr Sue Bolton, at my suggestion of the words, adopted the American expression "train wreck". Cr Kavanagh refused to be interviewed saying that he wanted to keep good relations with his colleagues. The Greens (Natalie Abboud and Mark Riley) on the contrary assert that MITS is still a good thing maybe even with parking reform taken out. When in the May 2020 council meeting the C187 amendment was abandoned (those were the words used) Cr Riley said he was delighted because the thing would be scheduled to resurface sometime into the next council term rather than be killed off altogether.


Key Facts

MITS is a report and a program split into the Parking Implementation (PIP, the bigger part) and what is left of MITS in a plan itself called MITS. C183 is an amendment to council laws that would implement PIP.

MITS excluding PIP is an overgrown glossy brochure concerning miscellaneous measures such as improving bike paths, pedestrian safety, and adjusted speed limits which could be done without being integrated into a larger picture (following Cr Bolton's observation that MITS is an omnibus project).

Key Players

  • Greens councillors Natalie Abboud, Mark Riley et al
  • Carlo Carli, former mayor and MP, influential ALP figure, man of action and ideas.
  • Lambros Tapinos, Annalivia Carli-Hannan, ALP councillors
  • John Kavanagh, independent councillor
  • Oscar Yildiz, independent councillor
  • Fair Parking Moreland, facebook operation
  • GTA Consultants, who wrote the various MITS plans
  • Moreland council staff who won't return phone calls, anonymous mostly, but it good to hear more from them.

Key Documents

MITS 2019

Parking Implementation Plan

Background

The council's documentation is highly recommended:

Background to Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy


Amendment C183: Moreland Parking Implementation Plan



Acknowledgements

I have attempted to contact most or all councillors (though recently excluding Cr Tapinos).

Thanks to Natalie Abboud for speaking to me for the Greens point of view. The other Green councillors have been hard to get hold of. Thanks to Cr Yildiz for explaining his views and to Cr Kavanagh for explaining why he did not wish to assist. There has not been much help from ALP councillors. In the case of Cr Tapinos, I believe it is more appropriate to have a public discussion. Acknowledgements of the help of some council officers but not others. Council has good resources for those with the time to delve into the public decision-making process, including video recordings of meetings, agendas and minutes over the entire council term.