Expert exposes flaws in Bacchus Marsh Grammar traffic report

Can we trust BMG's Traffic Impact Report?

In a submission to the Minister for Planning a local engineer has cast serious doubts about the integrity of Bacchus Marsh Grammar's Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA)

The detailed submission concludes that BMG's traffic consultant's report failed to provide all the information required of a TIA and stated that the report "includes errors, omissions and inconsistencies and does not adequately satisfy the requirements of the planning scheme."

In one section the submission's author makes the damning observation that: 

"No baseline traffic volumes on the surrounding road network have been collected" 

and goes on to ask how any conclusions can be drawn on traffic flow along Staughton Vale Road "if no baseline traffic volumes have been collected."

Another remarkable finding is that the TIA 

"incorrectly states the speed limit of Staughton Vale Road as 100 km/h," 

noting that this means no site visit was undertaken to "ground-truth this desktop level study". This important gap in understanding "undermines confidence in the report and has implications for subsequent conclusions that the report draws." (The speed limit on the Staughton Vale Road has been 80kph for a number of years)

Simplified breakdown of the submission.

BMG's Traffic Impact Assessment is a deeply flawed document built on significant contradictions, bad data, and unrealistic assumptions:

• Student Catchments & Transport: Students will be sought from a a massive new regional catchment that is nowhere near the updated campus. Large, ungainly, 58 seater buses will be used to transport students twice a day from and back to these catchment. There is while failing to Green Travel Plan to prove how this forced bus usage would ever work.  Most importantly, why not build the the school in or near the proposed catchment area?
  
  
• Bad Baseline Data: The assessment omits baseline traffic counts, ignores delivery and waste vehicles, wildly undercalculates daily trip generation, and gets the local speed limit entirely wrong.
  
  
• Inadequate Infrastructure: It unjustifiably demands a massive reduction in required car parking, offering just 8 drop-off spaces. Comparing this to the nearby Anakie school proves the site will be hopelessly overwhelmed, forcing unsafe overflow parking onto flat dirt ground.

What you can do if this upsets you

1. Call Ella George Member for Lara:  5275 3898. You will probably speak to one of her staff. Simply express your concerns about the proposal and ask them to pass on your concerns to Ella.  Please be polite but firm.  Your phone call is powerful
2. Write a short letter/submission.  You can read more about what to do and where to send your submission in this blog post. 
3. Keep yourself up to date with what our action group is doing please subscribe to receive new stories as they are published. You'll find the subscription form at the bottom of this post.

To find out more about the background to BMG's proposed updates to its Staughton Vale campus check out our About Us page

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What you can do - these actions make a difference

1. One of the most effective actions to take is to call or email our local State Member, Ella George, and express your concerns:
   Tel: 5275 3898   Email: ella.george@parliament.vic.gov.au
2. We have been told by the Department of Planning that the submissions can be made via email to development.assessment@transport.vic.gov.au
3. Email Hon. Sonya Kilkenny, Minister for Planning
email: sonya.kilkenny@parliament.vic.gov.au

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More Info

Please check out our About Us page for more information about the 11 year background to stop the over-development of the Bacchus Marsh Grammar campus on Staughton Vale Road

Thankyou everyone for your support!