The decision will have a far greater affect on the future of Horsham than the town hall or the leisure centre ever had. It will affect the city and its future development forever.

Horsham is one of the rare cities that has three highways passing through it, which makes any decision very difficult.

Before any traffic management is done, the correct option for the bypass must be set in stone. The exception is the construction of a couple of bridges over the river at either Bennetts Road-Ballinger Street or Drummond Street to the south side of the river and Baillie Street or Hamilton Street to ease the traffic on the twin bridges on Stawell Road. I believe the bypass must go east and north of the city, but slightly further out than Option D. Option D is far too close to town and will have too much affect on housing and properties in that area.

The option of Ballyglunin Road and Longerenong is too far out and not needed to connect to the container terminal. I think that Option 11 is by far the most suitable.

Due respect to the property owners affected, but if they are suitably compensated, I believe this to be the best option.

It would leave the Western Highway east of Burnt Creek and travel through the paddocks on the western edge of West and Rokeskys roads, leaving them as service roads. It would cut through the flood zones at Riverside, across the river and Dooen Road to the south side of Gatehouse Road and join back to the Western Highway just north of Moores bulk terminal.

While doing the project, the railway line would need to be relocated out of the city and could be rebuilt to the north side of Gatehouse Road, with a new station and parking bay for any future passenger rail services plus a large truck stop roadhouse for through traffic.

With the relocation of the railway line, the airport north-south runway could be built.

Any concern about the one in 100-year flood could be eased if the Dooen swamp was walled from the river and only used as flood relief when the river reaches a critical point. Any plans for a ring road link could be considered once it was determined what the local traffic movements would be.

The exception would be diverting Wimmera Highway traffic to either Golf Courser Road south for hay, grain and livestock, or north via Dooen School Road for containers to the terminal or through traffic to the Henty and Wimmera highways to the north and east. To ease the problem of heavy traffic on Golf Course Road, Kenny Road west could be upgraded to join up with Three Bridges Road near Noradjuha Road if needed.

I don’t believe the bypass will have any affect on the city business houses as the city has such pulling power from the whole of the Wimmera, not like some of the smaller towns that have been bypassed.

KEVIN LANE

Haven 

WIMMERA Health Care Group is asking residents to fill out a survey to make sure the broader community is involved in the future planning of the health service.

The health care group is developing a consumer participation plan. The survey will gain valuable input from the community.

The plan aims to make sure we get consumers involved in the health service and play a role in guiding any future changes.

We do this already through a number of consumer committees but this is another way we can engage people.

This survey can reach people who don’t normally have an opportunity to give us feedback.

The survey is available online at www.whcg.org.au and in hard copy and will help Wimmera Health Care Group understand what aspects of the plan people in the community find important.

We have the surveys available online on our website, in the general publications section, and we also have hard copies at the main receptions of Wimmera Health Care Group, selected pharmacies and doctors surgeries. The results of the survey will help progress the plan to make sure it meets the needs of the community.

A full list of where the publications are is available is on the website.

A staff member will also be meeting with various consumer groups, in and around the region to talk more about the plan and how consumers can be involved.

KATRINA PERROUD

Quality Manager, Wimmera Health Care Group

WIMMERA students and their families are urged to take part in the first Victorian Maths Challenge.

The state government recently launched the inaugural challenge for Victorian pre-school and year 5 to 8 students.

The challenge involves activities for students and their families that link maths to real-world situations. For pre-schoolers, parents can use different activities to introduce their children to maths in real-life settings like the super market.

For year 5 to 8 students, there are eight online challenges students can do at home with their families, including building and measuring towers, designing paper planes, strategy games and building floatable craft.

About 75 per cent of the fastest growing occupations will need science, technology, engineering and maths so we need to engage students early in these subjects.

Find out more about the Victorian Maths Challenge at vmc.global2.vic.edu.au

The challenge is open until November 29.

JAALA PULFORD

Member for Western Victoria