Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Eltham RSL club revival offer

Bolton Fish Shop menu is now online (Bolton Road, Eltham)

We regularly buy our fish and chips from Sue and Abdul's Bolton Fish Shop. They're always friendly and their food is very good. The best part is their generous serve of chips which is enough for a family of four and their grilled fish is also a good portion.

For me the frustrating thing with local restaurants is they don't provide their menus online, so I decided to do something about it and sponsor a couple of local businesses by  putting their menus online for the benefit of local residents.

You can now find Bolton Fish Shop at http://www.boltonfishshop.com/ and also on the JustLocal postcode page (www.JustLocal.com.au/3095).

If you're looking for a product or service from a local business, visit www.JustLocal.com.au/3095 and use the search engine. The search engine only promotes local businesses which means you get relevant results. There are now over 200 local businesses in the local search engine which is a free service for businesses in the postcode area of 3095.

Kelvin Eldridge

Manningham residents caught up in $5m scam

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

TED: Ideas worth spreading

I’ve listened to a number of the talks from a site called TED. I find some of the ideas shared to be thought provoking and felt that perhaps others may wish to know about the site.

 

Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world

- Kelvin Eldridge

Eltham reached 81.8 per cent of its 1670 code-one cases within 15 minutes.

New SmartBus Routes and DART Smartbus 901, 905, 906, 907, 908.

I found the references to Smartbus and then DART to be somewhat confusing. Are there now three bus services or something I thought. So I thought I’d simplify things. A bus is a bus. Just think of the Smartbus and DART as marketing, remove the terms and think of a bus service. Then it becomes simpler.

901 – This bus goes from Frankston to Melbourne Airport. Quite a few people have said to me who’d bother. But I reply, “think of the bus as a continuous route where you can get on and off where it suits you. If I just want to go from Templestowe to the Pines I can”. Just because a bus can go from Frankston to Melbourne Airport doesn’t mean we all have to use it that way. The 901 travels up Blackburn road to the Pines, along Reynolds Road, Fitzsimmons Lane, Main Road, Para Road, Greensborough Station. To me we now have a service which services Templestowe, Doncaster East, and can be used to go to Greensborough Plaza, The Pines and at a push, Ringwood shopping centre.

905 – City to The Pines. This bus travels from Lonsdale Street, Victoria Parade, Hoddle Street, Eastern Freeway, Thompsons Road, Parker Street, Porter Street, Blackburn Road, The Pines. It replaces the old 301 route and now makes the service a continuous service every fifteen minutes between 6:30am and 9Pm on weekdays and 30 minutes at other times. Previously the 301 stopped travelling to the city and a bus charge was required.

906 – City to Warrandyte. This bus travels from Lonsdale Street, Victoria Parade, Hoddle Street, Eastern Freeway, Blackburn Road, The Pines, Andersons Creek Road, Heidelberg Warrandyte Road, Warrandyte. The bus runs seven days a week every 7-10 minutes during peak times, every 15 minutes during weekdays and every 30 minutes at other times.

907 – City to Mitcham. This bus travels from Lonsdale Street, Victoria Parade, Hoddle Street, Eastern Freeway, Doncaster Road, Mitcham Road, Mitcham Station. The bus runs seven days a week every 7-10 minutes during peak times, every 15 minutes during weekdays and every 30 minutes at other times.

908 – City to The Pines. This bus travels from Lonsdale Street, Victoria Parade, Hoddle Street, Eastern Freeway, High Street, King Street, Blackburn Road, The Pines. The bus runs seven days a week every 7-10 minutes during peak times, every 15 minutes during weekdays and every 30 minutes at other times.

To me the really interesting route is the 901. Because this always stays in zone 2, it means only a zone 2 ticket is required and that can be more cost effective.

I still feel there are two aspects missing. A bus going from The Pines to Heidelberg station via Foote Street and Templestowe Road would help reduce one bus for locals travelling to La Trobe University and those taking the train from Heidelberg station. A second aspect is the cost of public transport discourages very short trips. It costs me the same to go from Frankston to the Airport as it does to go from my local bus stop to Templestowe Village shops or up to the local swimming pool. I noticed the same problem in the UK. Short trips aren’t encouraged and I think that is short-sighted. This encourages people to use their cars. The fuller buses are the better for the environment. When buses run around empty and via quite indirect paths, a fuel efficient car may be a better environmental choice and that shouldn’t be the case. A gold coin option for short trips on buses I feel should be part of our public transport options.

The update to the bus network in the Templestowe area is a welcome change. Will it encourage more people to use public transport. Only time will tell.

Kelvin Eldridge

 

 

Friday, October 8, 2010

Show us the money

Free fencing sessions!

Students give cyclist something to smile about

On Tuesday I found myself caught up in massive hordes of students from Eltham High School.

Thanks to Patricia Taylor for sharing her experience. It is a reminder of the good around us when often the not so good gets more attention.

- Kelvin Eldridge

AFP confirm part in Securency raids

Eltham gymnast wins Games medals despite 'Delhi belly' bout

BILL shock is a concept the Todd family have been forced to tackle head on.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Golden chance in doubt for Eltham gymnast Georgia Bonora

Reduce the need for printed catalogues like Target's

I often think there is no need for printed catalogues from most of the major department stores and have a no junk mail sign on my letterbox. Unfortunately that doesn’t stop the department stores as they simply move their catalogues into the local papers and local papers ignore the no junk mail signs. If I want to check out a department store’s catalogue I just go to their site such as Target’s (http://target.dynamiccatalogue.com.au/portal?lsm) and select the area. Catalogues will keep coming because department stores make money from the catalogues as advertisers have to pay for product placement. If catalogues were a cost they’d probably stop tomorrow and that would save a lot of trees. Check out the online catalogues. You can often find out the information before your local paper arrives. When I’m looking to buy a commonly advertised item I’ve often checked for and found products using the online catalogues saving some money.

Kelvin Eldridge

New bushfire refuge in Nillumbik

Eltham North's Nicki Holding

Monday, October 4, 2010

Mobile speed camera locations (Bulleen, Doncaster, Doncaster East, Eltham, Lower Plenty, Montmorency, Templestowe, Templestowe Lower, Warrandyte)

Published mobile speed camera locations for October 2010.

Bulleen
Bulleen Road, between Thompsons Road and Manningham Road

Doncaster
King Street, between Williamsons Road and Veda Court
George Street, between Victoria Street and Williamsons Road
High Street, between Manningham Road and Doncaster Road
Wetherby Road, between Doncaster Road and Koonung Creek
Doncaster Road, between Rose Street and High Street

Doncaster East
Doncaster Road, between Blackburn Road and Wetherby Road
King Street, between Nedlands Court and Ashcroft Avenue
Blackburn Road, between Raintree Road and Johns Grove
Blackburn Road, between Beverley Street and Turnstone Street
Blackburn Road, between Reynolds Road and King Street

Eltham
Main Road, between Leane Drive and Kalbar Road

Montmorency
Sherbourne Road, between Porter Street and Karingal Drive

Templestowe
High Street, between Rosemary Street and Linton Avenue
Serpells Road, between Church Road and Killibury Court
Reynolds Road, between Hawtin Street and Smiths Road

Templestowe Lower
Manningham Road, between Ayr Street and High Street

North Warrandyte
Research-Warrandyte Road, between Camelot Close and San Angelo Road


Kelvin Eldridge

No Games backflips from Eltham North commentator

Dramatic entrance for VCE exam season