HEARING YOUNG VOICES FROM THE FUTURE

 

 

It’s 2031 and for their history assignment, two ten-year-olds, Cy and Tan, have been asked to write an essay together about Wangaratta in 2021, the year they were born.
 
The boys cornered Cy’s Danish granddad, Poppy Klist, on a lazy Sunday afternoon, in the veggie patch at the community farm that had been built at Wangaratta High School. They lounged under the shade of the big gums for hours, munching on string beans and peppering Poppy Klist with questions about what had changed in Wangaratta over the past decade.
 
They discovered that, in 2021, everyday Australians craved leadership and were alive to the power of their vote. They demanded climate change be treated as a national emergency. This was especially true in northeast Victoria, where the environment and the economy were still scarred from the 2019–20 Black Summer fires.
 
They discovered that, in 2021, after the COP26 Climate Summit, the Australian government was under intense pressure to commit to Net Zero by the mid 2030's.  It was a momentous occasion when Australia did meet this commitment. People were proud of their country again and there was actual dancing in the streets.
 
 
“Speaking of streets,” Cy said. “What was our school on Phillipson Street like in 2021?”
 
Poppy Klist filled them in. Their school was only one storey back then and had an actual library with paper books in it. Moreover, it had no drone landing pad. Poppy Kist’s eyes lit up when he got to the part about the Phillipson Street Cycleway.
 
“Boring!” the boys said in unison. “Jinx” offered Poppy Klist.
 
“The Phillipson Street Cycleway looked a little strange at first, but it had proved to be transformational infrastructure. It was also the start of the award-winning Slow Streets’ movement in Wangaratta,” Poppy explained.
 
“In 2021 and 2022, petrol prices started going up and the price of electric vehicles wasn’t coming down. People started to swap their cars with bikes. As soon as the Phillipson Street Cycleway was installed, the local cycling movement snowballed and I felt as if I was back in Copenhagen!”
 
According to Poppy Klist, the success of the cycleway had promoted a wholesale reimagining of all of Wangaratta’s urban spaces. “It was called Slow Streets, and it was partly a social response to the pandemic that encouraged people to meet up outdoors. However, it was mostly triggered by the community’s desire for local action on climate change.”
 
“With so many people using bikes to get around, there were fewer cars on the road. This made it safer for cyclists, which in turn encouraged even more people to dust the cobwebs off their old bike and join in. Within six months of the Phillipson Street Cycleway being built, a group of parents had started a Bike Bus along Phillipson Street,” he said. “This helped kids cycle between school and home.”
 
“When it was first installed, I don’t think even the council, VicRoads or our local politicians fully imagined the comprehensive positive change that the cycleway would go on to create. At first it was inconvenient and an eyesore, but we quickly got used to it and it kick-started a whole new way of planning our town.”
 
“The demand for bike-friendly roads led to a rethinking of road infrastructure to make our streets safer and friendlier places for cyclists of all ages. Within two years, and with fewer and fewer cars whizzing by, the council started reclaiming parts of the roads for street dining, markets and events.”
 
“Wow,” Cy said. “I know you said the Phillipson Street Cycleway was the start of the Slow Streets movement in Wangaratta, but given fewer cars on the road means fewer greenhouse gas emissions, it should have been called Cool Streets instead of Slow Streets.”
 
“Yep, it was a pretty cool move to put that cycleway in.” Poppy Klist agreed with a wink. “Whether you call it Slow Streets or Cool Streets, or whatever you like, it made it easier for people to walk and bike around town and that makes them Smart Streets, too.”
 
Here are Cy and Tan’s voices from the future. Hearing them talk might help us to act more thoughtfully and with future generations in mind.

We are grateful that the Phillipson Street Cycleway was installed in 2021. We love it, because it joins all of the river and creek cycle paths and connects them to the city centre. No one drives a car much anymore and, like most people, we bike around town.
 
Visiting the evening food markets in the town gardens is a real highlight. We meet our mates at the Grand Junction. That’s the corner of Edwards and Phillipson streets. From there, you can see the urban farm in front of the old Wangaratta High School.
 
We love that towns like ours favour cyclists and pedestrians over vehicles. It’s good for the environment and great exercise for us.
 
Yours, with thanks from the future generations,
Cy and Tan