Merri-bek BUG

It’s been brought to my attention that this month’s BUG meeting coincides with the Council Budget submissions hearing, which will be held at Coburg Civic Centre from 6pm, Thurs 25th June.

So the committee has decided that we will not hold a formal BUG meeting this month, but that instead we will encourage as many people as possible to come along to the submissions hearing. Even if you don’t wish to speak, it’s great to have a good strong show of cyclists there – it shows councillors that there is a big and active cycling community in Moreland.

Afterwards, those who are keen can head to a nearby pub or restaurant for an informal meeting/bikechat.

If you do plan on making a verbal submission to Council on the night, make sure you register with Derek Madden of Council beforehand.

Happy winter riding,
Anna

Bicycles for Humanity, Melbourne had a bike collection last weekend; they
are raising funds to send a shipping container of bikes to Namibia where they will benefit a community for many years to come.

If you missed the collection last weekend, there is still room in the container, so they will be there again this Sunday 29th of March at 170 Edward St East Brunswick from 1pm – 5pm.

For more info, see the website.

The Sydney Rd Street Party is on today and the BUG will be there in force – so keep an eye out for the BUG stall and valet parking…

12 noon – 7pm; Sydney Road – Union to Victoria Streets, Brunswick.

And there’s plenty of good music on as well.

Moonee Valley Pedal Party

On Sunday 22nd February, 2009, between 11am and 4pm, Moonee Valley Council is holding a Pedal Party at Boeing Reserve, Strathmore Heights, Melway 16 D5, as part of its Summer in the Valley Events.

Boeing Reserve is adjacent to the Moonee Ponds Creek shared path, so is quite accessible by bicycle.

Activities on the day include:

• Bike decorating workshop 11am- 3.30pm, concluding with bike decorating competition judging
• Australian Wildlife Lectures
• Envirocraft – interactive activities
• Water Watch – check out our water through the microscope
• Pobblebonk – an exhibition about animals on the Maribyrnong River
• Natural environment walk and talk tour
• Herb Patten – Australia’s leading gum leaf blower will perform and hold a free workshop

Information on cycling and the Bicycle User Group
Pedal Party inquiries 9243 8888 or email to pivalley@mvcc.vic.gov.au

The next Moreland BUG meeting will be held on Thursday 26th Feb, 7:30pm at the Edinburgh Castle Hotel, 681 Sydney Road, Brunswick (in the small room in the courtyard). Pop it in your calendar now and there will be another reminder with agenda closer to the date.

P.S. If you’ve got some free time this weekend, head down to Federation Square and check out the Sustainable Living Festival – the festival starts on Friday and carries on all weekend. Highlights include Paul Kelly on the main stage 9:30am Friday morning, and the Cycling Promotion Fund’s great big BUG marquee.

Cycling: Taking it to the streets, safely – an invitation to the launch of cycling safety video clips as part of the Sustainable Living Festival.

Join Matt Tilley from 101.9 Fox FM and guests.

Time: Friday 20th February 2009
Venue: Federation Square Big Screen
Time: 7.30pm
Cost: Free
Registration not required

The Cycling Promotion Fund and the Amy Gillett Foundation invite you to join us to launch four great video clips with tips on how to avoid common risks when cycling in traffic.

The clips have been developed by bicycle riders for bicycle riders with financial assistance from the TAC Community Grants program.

The launch is followed by a great free program of StreetFilms list of films.

Our friends over at YarraBUG have a bike show, broadcasting every Monday at 10-10.30am on 3CR Community Radio, 855am.

See their radio page for more information.

Those who don’t live locally or close to an AM radio, can find
YarraBUG Radio streaming live on the web at:
http://www.3cr.org.au/3CR_streaming

The Sydney Rd Street Party approaches! BUG will be running valet parking again this year, and if all goes well we may even expand our services and set up in two locations. We’ll also be running a small stall, as usual, so we’ll need considerably more volunteers to help out this year.

This is usually the BUG’s biggest day out of the year, and hanging out on the stall or valet chatting to friendly cyclists isn’t a bad way to spend a couple of hours.

The Street Party will be held on the 1st of March; if you can help out, please let Anna know so we can start making a roster. Shifts will be in 2-hour blocks and if you have a preference for valet or stall, let Anna know.

This is a friendly reminder that our ride has re-scheduled for this Sunday. I look forward to see you all this Sunday.

Meeting Point and Time:
Meet at Royal Park Train Station at 10:30am (opposite Melbourne Zoo)

Date:
Sunday 21 December 2008

Theme:
Please feel free to dress yourself and your bike with Christmas decorations

Venue:
Lunch at 1:00pm at Belgian Beer Café
557 St Kilda Road, Melbourne
www.belgianbeercafemelbourne.com

Route:
The route is a surprise and you will find out on the day

What to bring:
Mobile, Money, sunscreen, camera

RSVP:
By Friday 19 December 2008 to rides@morelandbug.org

Phuong and Anna are helping to organise a sustainable transport rally outside the Melbourne Town Hall this coming Tuesday 16th Dec, to welcome the new Lord Mayor to his first Council meeting and let him know that we don’t support his plan to allow cars back into Swanston St. The council meeting starts at 5:30, so the rally will begin at 5pm to make sure Mr Doyle and his fellow councillors get an ear-and-eye-full of us before they head into the meeting.

During the council meeting, some councillors are planning to put forward a motion to have a range of options canvassed for Swanston St – one of which would be reopening it to cars, while others would focus on making it a bike, pedestrian and tram friendly route. It will be important for council to know that there is a loud and proud bike community that wants sustainable transport to be front and centre in the City of Melbourne, which is the purpose of the rally.

The media will be there and Jeremy Rawlins, whose wife Carolyn was killed on Swanston St earlier this year, will address the rally. Tomorrow Anna will send through a flyer (to the BUG list) that you can email round to your networks; in the meantime, just pop the date into your diary and let Anna know if you’d like to help out – we’ll need a few people on the day to act as marshalls, making sure that the rally doesn’t venture onto the tram tracks, as well as some people to hand out flyers along major cycling routes in the lead up to Tuesday.