A NEW residents group will appeal to the State and Federal Governments to bridge the funding divide between the eastern and western suburbs.

Run by On the Nose spokesman Bruce Light, the Best For The West group says the western suburbs are starved of adequate facilities. It is making the Eddington East West Link Needs Assessment report its first priority.

The group also hopes to tackle child care, air and water quality, law and order and health and aged care services in due course.

“We need to make sure we get funding spent on the West for infrastructure projects, particularly on our roads, and to get the trucks off the road,” Mr Light said.

“Any attention to solve our transport problems is a step in the right direction.”

The group plans to circulate two petitions - one for the State Government, one for the Federal government - to highlight the funding discrepancies between the eastern and western suburbs.

The petitions request both governments make significant investments in transport infrastructure, job growth and education to improve opportunities for people in the West.

The group will set up stalls in coming months with the petition.

Mr Light said the group wanted to strike while the Eddington iron was still hot.

“What we find is the western suburbs don’t speak up enough. We don’t have a big enough voice and what tends to happen is that money is spent in the east and we grizzle about it and say we’ve been disadvantaged again,” he said.

He urges residents to read the Eddington report and to get involved in the discussion about it.

Maribyrnong City Council will release its submission tonight at its Community Access and Strategic Policy meeting.

The public will have until 20 June to comment on the submission before the council sends it on 15 July.