Groups against WestConnex tunnel work in Lilyfield vow to ramp up protests after Minister rules out school as major construction site
COMMUNITY groups opposed to WestConnex have vowed to fight against any construction tunnel sites being built in Leichhardt or Lilyfield.
Inner West
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GROUPS opposed to WestConnex have vowed to fight against any construction tunnel sites being built in Leichhardt or Lilyfield.
A rally on Sunday heard protests would continue against an access tunnel for the motorway’s M4-M5 Link at the Dan Murphy’s bottle shop in Darley Rd.
On Friday WestConnex Minister Stuart Ayres confirmed a tunnelling site proposed for the old tram sheds just 36m from the Leichhardt Campus of Sydney Secondary College had been scrapped.
Sydney Motorway Corporation had previously indicated it was looking at the tram sheds because of the high cost of acquiring the bottle shop site.
But Mr Ayres said the bottle shop would be named as the State Government’s only new dive-site option when a design report was released in coming weeks.
If Dan Murphy’s is acquired, the Government could be hit with a compensation claim for tens of millions of dollars.
Leichhardt Against WestConnex (LAW) said the Leichhardt Campus P & C, which had fought against the tram-shed dive-site option, was now fighting to save the “equally inappropriate” Darley Rd site.
LAW co-convener Christina Valentine said all the speakers at the rally were opposed to bringing in thousands of trucks a week into a highly congested and critical arterial road which, she said, was also a known accident black spot, with a history of fatalities.
“While the SMC may have thought they could divide our community by nominating two equally inappropriate sites, they have failed,” Ms Valentine said. “Instead, they have brought the community of Leichhardt together in its resolve to defeat their ill-conceived proposal at Darley Rd.”
LAW called on Mr Ayres to acknowledge that there was no suitable location in Leichhardt for a dive site.
Federal Labor MP for Grayndler Anthony Albanese, who had campaigned against the tram sheds site in Derbyshire Rd, said the “reckless” proposal would have caused considerable disruption to the education of the almost 1000 students.
“I congratulate the P & C, staff, students and the broader school community for their strong campaign against this absurd idea,” Mr Albanese said.
“This outcome follows wins for the community with the saving of Blackmore Oval in Leichhardt, Ashfield Park and Rozelle’s Easton Park from being sacrificed for the WestConnex project.”
Inner West Council administrator Richard Pearson said an engineer’s report commissioned by council, which said both sites were unsuitable, would have played a part in the Government’s decision.
“The report clearly showed both options presented major problems in terms of road safety, noise, traffic and other impacts on local residents, school students and the wider community,” Mr Pearson said.
“So the announcement that at least the site adjacent to a high school will not go ahead is very welcome.
“This is a big win for Council and community advocacy.”
Mr Ayres said because the Government’s preferred site for an access tunnel was in Darley Rd, it decided not to put the old tram shed site forward as an option in the forthcoming design plan and EIS for the M4-M5 Link.
“Both sites were pretty even,” he said. “As we continued to develop the EIS one became more obvious than the other and when the (school) site became a clear second-best site my view is that there wouldn’t be two sites in the EIS.
“The EIS will go forward with the Darley Rd site only for public consultation.”
Mr Ayres said he would not shy away from the fact there was “lots of disruption in this community”.
“I respect the fact we have to work with this community.
“I’m incredibly thankful for them putting up with the disruption. This is a very important for project for all of Sydney and we’re on a long journey together.
“I’ll be as upfront and honest with them through that journey, as I can be, and when information and decisions are made we’ll want to get them out to the public as quickly as possible.”
Mr Ayres said while the school officials were concerned about have a dive site so close by, they were happy to hear the news that Darley Rd would be the only option.
He said Education Minister Rob Stokes was pretty passionate about making sure the school’s views were being considered.
“Establishing a temporary tunnelling site between Haberfield and Rozelle will allow us to build the missing link between the M4 and M5 motorways faster and ensure we can give back land for green space to the community,” Mr Ayres said.
A spokesman for Endeavour Drinks Group, the parent company of Dan Murphy’s which is part of the wider Woolworths Group, said staff at the Lilyfield shop were disappointed at the decision to resume the site after being embraced and welcomed as part of the local community.
“Dan Murphy’s was only made aware that the store was one of many options being considered for a possible ‘dive site’ after building works had almost been completed,” the spokesman said.
“We continued to build and open the store as we were legally compelled to do so as part of our lease commitments. It fulfilled a project commenced over 10 years ago to introduce our wide range and much loved shopping experience to the inner-west.
There’s been no further update on the timing of the closure which is still believed to be January/February 2018.”
Iris Van Ek moved to Lilyfield about the same time that Woolworths opened its multi-million dollar Dan Murphy’s bottle shop in Darley Rd.
Workers spent months converting the derelict furniture factory before it opened its doors on land leased from the NSW Government, just before Christmas last year.
“We are just two minutes walk away, so it’s really convenient for us,” Ms Van Ek said last- Friday evening.
“I can’t be believe it’s closing after so little time. What a shame. It’s disappointing and a really big waste of money.“
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