‘Madness’: Resident forced to cop 10 days of non-stop construction noise
Margaret Kirkwood is at her wits’ end after enduring construction noise for two years. Now the work has been increased to 24 hours a day.
Margaret Kirkwood is at her wits’ end after enduring construction noise for two years. Now she feels “helpless” as the work has been increased to 24 hours a day.
A new metro station is being built under Ms Kirkwood’s Pyrmont terrace in inner Sydney, part of the 24km Metro West line linking Parramatta with Sydney’s CBD.
Tunnelling for the project with the boring machine “Betty” began in 2023, and nine stations are being built along the line, which is due to open in 2032.
“The whole house rattles,” Ms Kirkwood said of the drilling, hammering, and rumbling of trucks that come and go from the subterranean site.
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“They’ve finished making the big cavern underneath, and that was over the last two years, and that was rattle, rattle, rattle and very, very nasty.
“But that didn’t go all the time. They’d stop at 10pm, sometimes they’d stop at 7pm.”
On Tuesday, the work was extended to 24 hours a day for up to 10 days as the Sydney Metro forges ahead with the project.
Ms Kirkwood said she would have to deal with the noise “going on all night”.
“You have to be able to sleep, it’s just madness. I don’t know what they expected - everybody to move out?”
Her home is near a large shed that serves as an access point to the tunnel under the street.
Metro Sydney has offered temporary accommodation for residents affected by the noise, and some have accepted, but Ms Kirkwood said there was nowhere suitable for the couple to go.
Her husband has been in and out of hospital with heart problems and pneumonia.
“I can’t find any accommodation for us that we can live in. My husband is pretty disabled,” she said.
Ms Kirkwood herself is using a crutch after having a hip replacement two weeks ago and is unable to get up and down stairs.
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The 83-year-old, who bought the terrace in 1977 and has been living in it for almost 50 years, said she was waiting for Sydney Metro to deliver some noise-cancelling headphones and earplugs to help mitigate the noise because “that’s the only choice we’ve got”.
She and her husband had already complained to Sydney Metro, but their pleas were ignored, she said.
“I’d like them at least to go five days and stop for two. Constantly going and sleepless nights, well, what can we do? I just feel helpless.
“You can’t fly a plane over overnight, you can’t have loud music going all night, but they seem to be able to because they’re building something.”
A Sydney Metro spokesperson said the current source of the noise was hammering equipment being used to create a stable floor for platforms and tracks in the future Pyrmont Station.
“Temporarily extending the hours of use for up to 10 days will eliminate up to four weeks of daytime hammering,” the spokesperson said.
“All works on Sydney Metro West projects are undertaken in accordance with approved environmental and noise management plans and monitored during work.
“Our contractors, John Holland, CPB Contractors, and Ghella, have been working hard to engage with local residents, providing information and the offer of alternative accommodation during the nights of extended hours.”
It comes after Metro West suffered a cost blowout of $2 billion, bringing its total projected cost to more than $30 billion, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Originally published as ‘Madness’: Resident forced to cop 10 days of non-stop construction noise
