Suburban Rail Loop: Business case reveals Elland Ave Box Hill homes in project path

A Box Hill couple who have lived in their house for almost 50 years could be forced out to make way for a rail loop — and they aren’t the only ones.

Vernita Zigouras fears her 100-year-old Elland Ave home could be knocked down to make way for the Suburban Rail Loop works in Box Hill. Picture: Kiel Egging.

A century-old Box Hill home and more than 100 apartments could be demolished to make way for the first stage of the $34.5 billion Suburban Rail Loop.

Vernita Zigouras and her husband John, both 82, have lived at their Elland Ave property for 46 years where they raised two children, and fear they’ll have nowhere to go if they are forced out.

The project’s business case, released on August 19, shows works for the SRL East station in Box Hill cutting through Elland Ave and into part of the Box Hill Gardens.

About 300 homes between Cheltenham and Box Hill were doorknocked and sent letters by the Suburban Rail Loop Authority in November and March, notifying residents their properties were “likely to be required” for the project.

Roughly half of the homes are in Box Hill, including about 100 apartments in a nine-level building at 2-4 Elland Ave, which according to apartment listings website Roost only opened in 2016.

The nine-level apartment complex at 2-4 Elland Ave Box Hill could be acquired by the State Government and knocked down for the Suburban Rail Loop. Picture: Kiel Egging.

Part of the Box Hill Gardens is set to be torn up and then replaced for the Suburban Rail Loop. Picture: Kiel Egging.

Ms Zigouras said she feared the worst for her Tudor-styled home based on correspondence from the authority and has declared she would not be forced out.

She said she was baffled at how construction for the project would work with many high rises near her home.

“It looks like I’m in the pathway, but I’ve been told it could change,” she said.

“I’m hoping they (the authority) are going to go away … at my age, I don’t want to be moving anywhere.

“If it means saving two minutes for somebody, for all this construction, it’s not good enough.”

Two residents at the apartment complex said they were unaware of the plans when Leader visited on Tuesday afternoon.

A SRLA spokesman said property acquisitions would not be confirmed until sometime in 2022 when statutory approvals were received, and residents would not need to leave for about another two years.

“We’re doing all we can to minimise the impact to the community, but delivering a project of this scale means some disruption and acquisition is unavoidable,” the spokesman said.

The authority confirmed a ”small part” of the Box Hill Gardens would have to be torn up for the works, but it would later be restored and returned to the community.

Whitehorse councillor Blair Barker feared the works would lead to “carnage”.

“It will have an incredibly disruptive impact on local traffic, businesses and lives … and devastate what amenity remains in Box Hill,” he said.

“It’s a disgrace that the state government is leaving hundreds of people’s lives in limbo.”