Locals and businesses to make way for North East Link
Decades of history, dozens of homes and hundreds of jobs could all be lost as the North East Link blazes a trail of destruction. From generations of one family in the same street, to a pie maker fearing his business could halve overnight, this is the human impact of Victoria’s biggest road project.
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Decades of history, dozens of homes and hundreds of jobs in Melbourne’s northeast could all be lost.
That’s the human impact of Victoria’s biggest road project, laid bare on Wednesday.
Residents and businesses near key parts of the North East Link have assumed the worst since the route was announced in 2017.
WRECKING BALL TO COME FOR 138 PROPERTIES
On Wednesday, their fears were confirmed with the release of the environmental effects statement.
David Monk, owner of Swans Plastics, said Bulleen’s industrial precinct — set to be hit hard by the mammoth road and tunnel project — was one of the biggest local employers.
“Now all of that is going to be bulldozed,” he said. We’re talking between 500 and 600 jobs and businesses that have been here for half a century.
“We weren’t told about it at first and then over the past 18 months we’ve had community consultation and meetings that have largely had no effect in changing their mind.
“I think our business will be fine, but a lot of companies are going to fall. The cost of relocating staff and finding a new location is too much,” he said.
For many locals, each community meeting and consultation document cemented their suspicion that their home or business was a target.
But it wasn’t until the Andrews Government’s press conference on Wednesday morning that the full documents were revealed and the scale of the upheaval ahead made clear.
Ray Capaldi, from Wonder Pies, slammed the lack of clear information given to businesses, and claimed “smokescreens” had kept them in the dark.
But Bulleen Art and Garden director Bruce Plain said they would “hang on for grim death”.
He added: “We are well within the area the government plans to develop and we will be in deep s--- if we are forced to find another location.
“We are committed to continuing, one way or another.”
Bulleen Art and Garden chief executive Paul McMorran said they did not want state compensation. “We want to keep on going,” he said.
Many residents have already left the area. Swathes of empty houses can be found along stretches of road where locals see the surging truck numbers and traffic congestion that have driven the need for the project.
Banyule Ratepayers Action Group advocate David Mulholland said the state government’s route for the North East Link would dissect Banyule and cut a swath through Watsonia and Greensborough.
“The more tunnelling the government can do, the better this will be to live in Banyule and commute to where we need to go,” he said.
He said businesses and homes directly affected by construction of the link should be compensated, and nearby homes monitored for damage.
“The Banyule Ratepayers Action Group will be keeping a close watch on this project to ensure any environmental effects are minimised and benefits are maximised through Banyule,” he said.
Construction of the North East Link — due to open to traffic in 2027 — is an unprecedented challenge for residents in surrounding suburbs.
The Veneto Club on Bulleen Rd is still awaiting confirmation as to whether their huge car park will form part of the construction site, while nearby schools and sporting grounds will be heavily used to form a massive interchange.
Marcellin College is consulting lawyers as the possibility of a detour through its campus looms.
NORTH EAST LINK ‘A HIGH PRIORITY’
DAN’S SURPRISING ALLIES IN LINK FUNDING PITCH
“They can’t give us a 100 per cent guarantee that we won’t lose some land in the process, so that will be something we continue to talk about,” principal Mark Murphy said.
“During construction they’re talking about putting a detour road through the middle of our school for a two-year period because they’ll have to close part of Bulleen Rd. We’re putting a submission with lawyers and town planners to work out a solution because that is obviously not something we want to happen.”
Trinity Grammar head Phil De Young said: “The project will impact our Bulleen facilities, but but we are totally satisfied with the explanation.”
He said the school had “absolute confidence” in access being maintained, and restoration and/or compensation for damage.
‘I WANT TO STAY’
It has been almost four decades since John Milne moved into his Greensborough Rd home.
He has watched the area grow and his family has changed with it, but will now be forced out to make way for the wider roads of the North East Link.
It is a heartbreak for the whole family, with the home of his great-grandchildren a few doors down also to be acquired.
“I have seen the road shrink through various changes over the years and now it’s going to expand back out again,” he said.
“My wife died last year so it is just me in the house and the family just down the road … They talk to us about when we will be moved and it could be two years or even more.
“There aren’t many people left along here. Most people are starting to move on.”
Mr Milne said authorities would help him and his family with their relocation.
“Wherever I go I don’t want to be put on another busy main road,” he said.
“But I also want to stay in the area.”
‘YOU COULD LOSE 50 PER CENT OF YOUR BUSINESS’
Ray Capaldi’s award-winning pie shop supplies its delicious pastries to the MCG but his Bulleen headquarters is his real pride and joy.
Wonder Pies is one of more than 100 businesses that will be acquired by the mammoth toll road project and sits in a busy industrial precinct set to be bulldozed.
“You can’t just up and leave,” he said.
“It has taken years to get a really good team. If we start moving further out we will lose all the good staff again.
“It isn’t just the ripple at the top but the small ripples as well that create disruption after disruption.”
Mr Capaldi said he and his neighbouring businesses supported change, but the current alignment could remove companies that have been in the area for 50 years.
“They talking about saving jobs and saving communities but there are 500 to 600 people here losing their jobs,” he said.
“By starting again you could lose 50 per cent of your business overnight.”
MUM’S DEVASTATION
Some of Natalie Maharaj’s earliest memories are of learning to swim at Bulleen Swim Centre as a child and it is a gift she had hoped to pass on to her children.
Ms Maharaj said she was devastated to learn the facility would be forced to moved to make way for a key North East Link interchange but the family would go there until the doors shut.
“I live in Bulleen but even if we didn’t we would always choose to come here because it is part of our family and I trained here all through my school years” she said.
“I take my two daughters here every week … I actually have a six-month-old and an 18-month-old at home so I hope they will get to come here too and be part of that history.
“Schools and other pools in the area don’t actually have the dedicated programs and facilities this place does so I don’t know where we will go.
“It will definitely be a loss for a lot of families who have come here over the years.”
Originally published as Locals and businesses to make way for North East Link
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