By Gabrielle Costa
THE positives in last week’s State Budget were few and far between for the owner of Yarraville’s Village Idiom, Alexis Ensor.
Last week, Star published Mr Ensor’s wish-list for the budget. His top priorities were an underpass at the Yarraville Railway Station, a secondary school in Yarraville and initiatives to open up the banks of nearby rivers to the public – none of which got a mention in the document brought down by Treasurer John Lenders.
Mr Ensor said he was “quite happy about” plans for a shared-use path for pedestrians and cyclists along Whitehall and Hyde streets in Yarraville and agreed that in the long run, that could encourage other plans that would open up the banks of the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers.
“All the bike paths all make sense around Footscray but going through Footscray they’re quite shocking – because we don’t have waterfront access … There’s no logic to it at all and people quite often get lost,” he said.
He also said improvements to the railway tracks at Laverton, which would enable more services, could be a boon for Yarraville – provided additional services stopped at all stations and didn’t simply speed past waiting commuters.
And more funding for social justice initiatives were also a positive. “I think the focus on the disadvantaged was really good because I think they’re very easy to forget because as we know, they’re not a big lobby group.”
