Docklands assesses the Harbour Esplanade pain

03 Aug 2010

Opinion is evenly divided on the long-term benefits of redeveloping Harbour Esplanade, according to the latest Docklands News online poll.

Only slightly more than half respondents (57.1 per cent) thought that the short-term pain would be worth enduring to achieve long-term gain.  The poll attracted 14 responses.

Opinion was more polarised on the question of whether participants felt they had been consulted and had genuine input into the project.  Some 78.6 per cent said they believed they had not been consulted.

And only 35.7 per cent said they thought reducing Harbour Esplanade to a single lane in both directions was a good idea.

Comments on this matter included:

• It takes me about 15 minutes longer to get home;
• Access is tough enough now without cutting down the lanes;
• The front of the stadium should be a vibrant “hub” with boat ramps and water taxi services departing from the water’s edge. The stadium and AFL House should host tourism displays … the area should not just be park land for workers who leave the precinct at 5pm;
• It is a key thoroughfare in Docklands and will not function with a single lane;
• It is stupid. People need to start weighing up the “green” issue against the economical benefit. I am all for going green, but when you have a suburb like Docklands which needs the people traffic it is absolutely ridiculous;
• $50 million could be better spent improving the environment for residents and visitors at leisure, not for people merely passing through; and
• Traffic has been a nightmare over the last two weeks. No wonder no one wants to come to Docklands.

Respondents were asked to rank VicUrban’s communication effort.  42.9 per cent thought it was “tokenistic” and a further 28.6 per cent believed it was “half-hearted”.

However, 21.4 per cent ranked it as “an honest effort”.  No one considered it “very good”, but one respondent ranked the effort as “brilliant”.

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