Canterbury Bankstown Council consider legal action to stop Sydney Metro
CANTERBURY Bankstown Mayor Mayor Khal Asfour has said his council has no option but to get legal advice on stopping the State Government building the controversial Sydenham to Bankstown Metro line.
The Express
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CANTERBURY Bankstown Council is considering legal action to stop the State Government building the controversial Sydenham to Bankstown Metro line.
At Tuesday night’s council meeting Mayor Khal Asfour, who has made his intentions clear in the past regarding opposition to the present Metro plans, will argue for legal action on what options are available to the council in regard to “legally stopping the government from delivering the proposed Metro”.
Sydney Metro said, it and the Department of Planning and Environment will work with the council to “develop an integrated town centre master plan for Bankstown to improve pedestrian access and amenity through the precinct”.
“I agree there is a need to improve our vitally important public transport system,” Mayor Asfour says in his mayoral minute.
“However, it is clear the NSW Government’s proposal, as it stands, delivers nothing for our city, our 360,000 residents and thousands of businesses. … Notwithstanding that council will soon consider the technical merits of the government’s Preferred Infrastructure Report, I feel we have no option as a city but to now obtain legal advice on what options are available to council with respect to legally stopping the government delivering this proposed metro.”
“Legal action is not to be considered lightly, therefore I request the general manager provides an urgent report back on the legal avenues Council might consider, the prospects of success and the associated cost considerations.
“It appears to me that the recently announced reduction in proposed work on the Sydenham to Bankstown Metro Project, by this NSW Government, has only been done to strip savings out of our City and throw billions of dollars to an underground line between Parramatta and the city.
“So, while the initial proposal was poorly conceived, the current changes have rendered it a white elephant!”
According to the NSW Government, the Bankstown Line causes one of the biggest bottlenecks on the suburban rail network because of how it merges with lines close to the city.
“Sydney Metro will deliver a level of reliable rail service never before seen on the 123-year-old Bankstown Line — 15 trains an hour in the peak in each direction and at every upgraded station, with room to add more trains in the future,” a Sydney Metro spokesman said.
“Currently, stations like Canterbury and Wiley Park have only four trains an hour in the peak.
“Trains will be required to run at 98 per cent on-time running reliability.
“The 11 upgraded stations between Bankstown and Sydenham will all be fully accessible as part of Sydney Metro — all stations will have lifts and level access from the platform to the train; this means no more step into the train or lifting a pram into a carriage.
“Currently, five of the 11 Bankstown Line stations don’t have lifts.
“Following refinement to the project recently, Sydney Metro conducted extensive community engagement along the corridor despite no statutory planning requirement to do so as part of the Submissions and Preferred Infrastructure Report process.
“This included notifying more than 80,000 properties about changes to the project and giving them the opportunity to attend community information sessions; more than 15,300 information leaflets were handed out at train stations and more than 6,300 people on the project database were emailed updated information.”
“The Sydney Metro service is designed to be consistent for customers across the entire 66km length of the new fully-automated railway system, including the Bankstown Line — this includes platform screen doors at all stations, lifts at all stations, level access from platforms to trains and all trains fully airconditioned.
“By removing the Bankstown Line from the suburban system, the trains currently operating on the T3 Bankstown Line could be allocated to other railway lines in the west and south west,” Sydney Metro said.
Cr Asfour has been advocating for the “undergrounding of the station” to unite both sides of the city.
“Uniting the north and south of Canterbury Bankstown’s CBD, by undergrounding the station, will have untold benefits for our community,” he said in May.
“While the 11 Liberal-held seats in the north get brand new stations, public space improvements and 15km of new tunnel between Bella Vista and Epping, the existing 13.5km T3 between Sydenham to Bankstown is replaced with an inferior, poorly designed, above- ground metro,” he said.