This morning Phil Barresi, the Member for Deakin, along with the Treasurer Peter Costello, announced $80 million to fix the Springvale and Whitehorse Road intersection, including the potential to grade separate the Belgrave / Lilydale rail line.

This announcement marks a new era of cooperation between Local and Federal Governments, since $1.5 million was provided from Canberra to the local City of Whitehorse to commission a report to investigate the potential options for this intersection.

Given that both Springvale and Whitehorse Roads and the Belgrave / Lilydale line are State responsibilities cooperation from the State Government will be required to ensure that these works can be undertaken. Nevertheless, the direct interaction between Federal and Local Governments to alleviate local community infrastructure issues must be encouraged.

As an example, a similar model could operate in regard to much needed public transport infrastructure where the Federal Government could provide funding to local government to undertake the necessary studies and planning work required for public transport projects. For example, funding could be provided directly to the City of Maroondah to undertake the feasibility work that is necessary to plan for the third track to Ringwood.

Now that an appropriate model exists we can hopefully extend this into other areas of importance to our local communities.