WestConnex: Richard Moras fed up with workers wrongly identifying his St Peters house to be demolished

A HAPLESS homeowner has twice been forced to fend off WestConnex workers who turned up to prepare his house for demolition — even though it has not been listed for bulldozing.

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A HAPLESS homeowner has twice been forced to fend off WestConnex workers who turned up to prepare his house for demolition — even though it has not been listed for bulldozing.

Richard Moras is at his wit’s end after the demolition men turned up at his St Peters semi in December and January. The massive communications fail began when motorway contractors switched off the electricity and tore down telephone and internet cables at 5 Brown St.

When he confronted the workers on December 5, they told the gobsmacked homeowner they were getting his house, and the one next door, ready for the wrecking ball.

Richard Moras twice had to complain to WestConnex officials that his house is not slated for demolition after workers turned off power, phone/internet lines, and put security fencing around it. Picture: Craig Wilson

But neither home, located close to the construction zone for WestConnex road-widening, is listed for demolition.

“I was working on the computer and the power and the wi-fi went off,” Mr Moras, a tour manager, said.

“I went outside and there was cabling all over my front garden and workmen standing at my gate. One of them said ‘We are cutting off the power and the communication’. When I asked when it was going to be put back on he said it wasn’t because the house is being demolished.”

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Mr Moras rang WestConnex and was assured there had been a mistake.

But despite receiving an official apology from WestConnex, he was left flabbergasted when the workers turned up again on January 5.

This time they began erecting a 2m security fence around the house while he was at work, telling neighbours it was going to be knocked down.

Neighbour Tamara Regan had to alert the bewildered workers that people were still living in the houses which were not listed for demolition.

Workers erected a 2m fence around his house while he was at work. Picture: Craig Wilson

Workers also turned off power and phone/internet lines. Picture: Craig Wilson

In a video shot by Ms Regan, the confused men seem unsure about which houses are to be fenced.

Now Mr Moras is terrified another communication breakdown could lead to his home being flattened.

“I’m worried that I will be at home one day and a bulldozer will really come through my front gate,” he said. “I wanted assurances that this wouldn’t happen again and they said it wouldn’t happen again. It shows there is a systemic failure here.”

This is what the proposed project is expected to look like when it’s complete.

After the January 5 fence fiasco, WestConnex contractors sprayed a makeshift “limit of works” boundary marker in the asphalt on Brown St to alert demolition workers about which houses to pull down.

WestConnex Action Group spokeswoman Pauline Lockie said what happened to Mr Moras was consistent with what she had heard from other residents.

“Something like identifying the right houses to demolish should be the very easiest part of what WestConnex do,” she said. “So how are we supposed to trust that they can deliver the rest of the tollway?”

Sydney Motorway Corporation confirmed Mr Moras’ property “had at no time” been identified for demolition.