Article in “The Age” July 6 2011
WHEN Noah Lautman-Wurt was seven, his family took him to his first protest rally over the number of trucks in residential streets in their Yarraville neighbourhood.Noah, now 17, has heard a decade of state government promises to reduce the number of trucks driving through the inner western suburb.
It hasn’t happened. About 7000 still drive down Yarraville’s Francis Street each weekday.Noah says he has grown up used to the number of trucks using his suburb as a bypass to the port.
He goes to school in Flemington now and notices the difference. ”I barely ever see trucks around that area compared to here.”
Noah’s father, Martin Wurt, is secretary of the Maribyrnong Truck Action Group, which met with the Environment Protection Authority’s chief executive yesterday to discuss diesel emissions in Yarraville.
Mr Wurt’s group has been seeking a meeting with Transport Minister Terry Mulder since the government was elected last year to see if it has any plan to deal with the truck issue.
Mr Mulder has rejected the meeting requests, telling the group he is too busy.
