Noise, land acquisitions could be new norm if North East Link goes ahead

People living in Boroondara say the true cost of the State Government’s $16 billion North East Link road project is still unclear and more communication is needed by the council and project management.

Submissions on the planned North East Link’s environmental effects statement (EES) have closed, but residents say it’s still not clear how the project will affect them.

Balwyn North’s Helen Tsoutsouvas said the $16 billion road project, which will connect the M80 Ring Road with the Eastern Freeway, could result in the loss of swathes of council-owned parkland.

She slammed Boroondara Council for not properly explaining to residents how it would impact them, and said the most they’d done was point to the multi-volume online document in their monthly newsletter and asked residents to take a look, she said.

What they should have done was host consultative meetings attended by councillors, staff and experts like neighbouring Manningham Council where people could ask questions, she said.

And she worried their lack of thorough consultation could mean the council’s own submission, due last Friday (June 7), would not be as representative of the community as it could be, she said.

“This is such a big issue and it’s been going on for so long you’d expect them to have done some work behind the scenes,” she said.

“Boroondara council represents the thousands of us, that’s why they’re elected. I can put in a submission (to the EES), but it’s not worth nearly as much weight as the council.”

Helen Tsoutsouvas says Boroondara Council failed to consult the community correctly when preparing its submission on the North East Link. Picture: George Salpigtidis

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Mary Harnan, also of Balwyn North, said she was happy with the level of communication by the council but North East Link management failed to release vital information.

Homes close to the widened freeway would suffer increased noise pollution, she said, and Koonung Creek Linear Reserve would be almost entirely taken over by construction works.

Boroondara Council spokeswoman Carolyn Terry said a public information session was held last month and it published blog posts, conducted letter box drops, paid for newspaper advertising and held a number of community forums in recent years.

The municipality stood to lose up to seven hectares of open space at Koonung Creek Linear Reserve, she said, while increased traffic on the new road may affect air quality.

State Government spokesman Jordy Jeffrey-Bailey said any impact on open space outside of the existing road reserve would be minimised and the community had been consulted.

“The North East Link will complete the ring road and take trucks off local streets, slashing congestion and creating thousands of local jobs,” he said.