Long-awaited northern beaches tunnel just ‘cynical pork barrelling’ say Mosman residents
PREMIER Gladys Berejiklian has just dangled the North Shore by-election’s biggest carrot with today’s announcement that the long-awaited northern beaches tunnel is on the way.
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NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has just dangled the North Shore by-election’s biggest carrot with today’s announcement that the long-awaited $3b northern beaches tunnel is on the way.
Reaction on the lower north shore, where the Spit/Military road commute is one of Sydney’s worst, was mixed ahead of the announcement.
Save Our Councils Coalition spokesman William Tuck said the timing of the announcement, three weeks from the by-election, smacked of “cynical pork barrelling. There is absolutely no doubt about that”.
“We want to see the budget, we want to see the start and completion dates, we want to see an environmental assessment as to what will happen at the entry and exit points. Is it going to be four or six lanes?
“Why are they announcing it now when they should have announced it at the time of the budget? Will it blow out like WestConnex has?
“They are rolling this out as an election issue — they are obviously in political trouble and nervous as hell they will lose the North Shore by-election.”
Mosman mayor Peter Abelson questioned the credibility and timing of today’s announcement.
“In the absence of a published business case, it’s highly coincidental that the announcement is being made 15 days before a state by-election,” he said.
“Why was this not announced six or 12 months ago? Two years ago?
“So the combination of a lack of a clear, published business case and the coincidence of the timing of the announcement leaves it with, unfortunately, little credibility.”
Mosman councillor Simon Menzies described the announcement as “great news” but was waiting to hear further detail.
“I was hoping they would announce something before the North Shore by-election,” he said.
“But as they say, the devil is in the detail and we will wait to see what sort of time frame they are putting on it.
“It’s one thing to announce it, but really what I have been saying since Jillian Skinner’s newsletter came out, is that we need to know what people are now calling the ‘dig date’.
“We need to know when they will start digging and how they will pay for it.
“Without this detail it’s not really worth much.”
Cr Menzies’ petition, which calls for an announcement on the tunnel before the North Shore by-election, has more than 600 signatures so far.
Fellow Mosman councillor Roy Bendall said he remained “pessimistic” about the tunnel plan ever coming to fruition.
“I hope it’s just not a by-election stunt; we have been proposed this for 26 years and until we see this actually in the Budget, then we remain just as pessimistic because promises have been broken before,” he said.
“They have announced it every election! It’s a perennial joke.
“I mean, Mike Baird’s father Bruce Baird announced it when he was a Member of Parliament.
“This is a generational announcement by the Liberal Party.
“It’s about time they started prioritising this part of the world because for too long, safe Liberal seats have been ignored by Liberal governments.”
Carolyn Corrigan, who is running as an independent for North Shore, said that the announcement of the tunnel shows that the Liberal party is concerned about losing the prestigious North Shore seat.
“I’ll believe the tunnel when I see it,” she said.
“I’m not sure how many feasibility studies have been done but it would be a good question to ask at a trivia night. It show the Libs are very worried about this seat.”
Animation shows the tunnel’s planned route
Cr Corrigan believes the tunnel sounds wonderful but is concerned about the traffic when it emerges close to the city.
She urged Ms Berejiklian to put the multi-million B-Line bus route on hold until it is certain what it going to happen with the tunnel and called for a whole of area strategic traffic plan.
Cr Corrigan also questioned the timing of the tunnel announcement.
North Sydney Mayor Jilly Gibson, who is also running as an independent candidate, questioned the latest tunnel development.
“Another announcement is wonderful but I suspect it’s just that. An announcement,” she said.
“I’ll believe it when I see clear evidence.
“It’s more pre-election promises. The Liberals have been doing this for decades and the electorate has stopped believing them.”
Cr Gibson asked why there has been no consultation with the community or North Sydney Council on the issue — and questioned how they could be so far into the planning process without this.
She believes that Premier Gladys Berejiklian is scared about losing the seat and described the tunnel announcement as “amateur hour”.
“The Liberals are really worried,” she said.
“They now have a preselected candidate (Felicity Wilson) that nobody knows.
“She (Berejiklian) is scared and quite rightly so.”
The announcement of the $3 billion project — which will connect the Burnt Bridge Deviation to the Warringah Freeway, bypassing 21 sets of traffic lights — comes the day after Felicity Wilson won Liberal preselection for North Shore. Voters will go to the polls on April 8.
Retiring North Shore MP Jillian Skinner let the cat out of the bag in her last newsletter, telling constituents the tunnel was on the way “at long last”.
“I have seen the plans, they are better than my wildest expectations,” she wrote. “It’s beautiful”.
In an interview with the Mosman Daily last week, Ms Berejiklian said the tunnel was a critical part of the “medium to long term future”.
“We’ve been working very hard behind the scenes for a couple of years on this,” she said. “It’s not as though it’s something that’s going to pop out of nowhere.”
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