Dozens of homes, businesses to be bulldozed as North East Link path revealed
Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent compensating 138 households and businesses that will have to make way for Victoria’s biggest ever road project, the $15.8 billion North East Link toll road. These are the areas that will be affected.
VIC News
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Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent compensating 138 households and businesses that will have to make way for the $15.8 billion North East Link toll road.
But residents and workers say they fear having to leave a community they love from next year.
The biggest road project in the state’s history will also result in compensation being extended to cover relocation costs and save about 1000 jobs at 102 affected businesses.
John Milne, whose Greensborough Rd home is one of 36 being acquired, as is that of his great-grandchildren down the road, said: “I’ve lived here all this time because I enjoy the community and being so close to everything. It isn’t a place I’d like to leave.”
The North East Link will connect the M80 Ring Road in Greensborough to the Eastern Freeway in Bulleen, creating more than 10,000 jobs and saving motorists 35 minutes.
But during works, the EES said traffic lanes on the Eastern Fwy would be temporarily realigned during construction, with some lane closures also “likely”.
“Transport capacity along the freeway would be maintained during the peak periods, with lane closures occurring outside these periods and any full closures of the freeway occurring overnight,” the EES said.
Design changes halved the number of homes that will have to be demolished, with estimates last year suggesting up to 75 homes would need to be bought by the government.
The project’s environmental effects statement shows 18 homes would be acquired between the M80 Ring Rd and the new tunnel’s northern portal, with another 18 homes acquired between the northern portal and the southern portal.
But even those able to stay will have to suffer through seven years’ construction chaos.
At the height of the works, more than two trucks a minute will rumble through the northeastern suburbs.
Trees will be uprooted, parks torn up, and sports grounds and schools turned into worksites.
An environmental effects statement of over 10,000 pages shows that 10-metre-high noise walls and two hi-tech ventilation stacks 40m high — one at the northern tunnel portal near Blamey Rd within Simpson Barracks, and the other near the southern tunnel portal at Bulleen Oval — will be built to reduce the road’s impact on residents.
The project also features 25km of new and upgraded walking and cycling paths, a dedicated bus lane along the Eastern Fwy, five new bridges, expanded public space and more than 30,000 new trees.
Speaking at a union rally this morning, Premier Daniel Andrews defended the need to acquire homes to build the project.
Mr Andrews said the route had been designed to limit the amount of compulsory acquisitions needed to build the “vital” piece of infrastructure.
He said the government would work respectfully with homeowners during the process, and that they would be treated “fairly”, case-by-case.
Home and business owners will be able to negotiate with the government for adequate compensation, with local councils working with businesses to find suitable sites for relocation.
Compensation would be assessed on the market value of homes, along with other expenses and financial losses caused by the acquisition.
The environmental effects statement released today also revealed:
• The Eastern Freeway will be swamped with up to 95,000 extra vehicles a day once the North East Link is finished, but just 5 per cent of traffic on the new road is expected to end up at the Hoddle St bottleneck.
• The Hurstbridge railway line will be closed for weeks at a time during construction, and lanes will be shut on several roads, though capacity on the Eastern Freeway will be maintained during peak times.
• Tunnel boring machines will dig up 6.1 million cubic metres of spoil for the 6km twin tunnels — enough to fill the MCG nearly four times over.
• The cost of tolls on the North East Link has not been locked in but will be similar to those of CityLink and other toll roads.
Mr Andrews said the government was “treating all of those affected respectfully”.
“We have worked incredibly hard to get the total number of houses that need to be taken down to the lowest possible number,” he said.
Under Victorian law, the government can deliver compensation bonuses of up to 10 per cent on top of acquisition settlements, based on a person’s age, length of ownership, expectations to stay, and inconvenience suffered.
It can also offer loans on top of compensation payments to help those affected buy “reasonably comparable accommodation”.
Of the 102 businesses to be acquired, 80 are in the Bulleen industrial precinct. Mostly automotive and construction companies, they employ 770 people, nearly a third of all workers in Bulleen.
Some are willing to move, though the EES forecasts “a strong surge in demand” for local properties so companies can maintain local connections and their customer base.
The remaining 30 businesses in the Bulleen industrial precinct, including food and coffee outlets, are expected to be hit hard. But the EES said they would benefit from the road’s construction workers; at the peak of the project that would be 2800 people per shift.
The Bulleen Swim Centre and Borlase Reserve will close and parts of the Boroondara Tennis Centre, Freeway Public Golf Course and Bulleen Park will be acquired, along with substantial swathes of parkland.
Parts of several other recreational facilities and parks will be temporarily acquired during construction, as well as segments of the grounds at three private schools, Carey Baptist Grammar, Marcellin College and Trinity Grammar.
North East Link Project chief executive Duncan Elliot said all people facing property acquisitions had been notified.
Mr Elliot also said the project was looking at possible relocations for businesses.
He declined to say where the majority of properties were, saying it has been a “difficult time for them”.
“They are dispersed across the corridor,” he said.
Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said there had been a reduction in the number of homes likely to be acquired because the scope of the project had been altered.
She said this could change again after the builder was chosen and further “refinements” were made.
“The final number will be known when we have a final design,” she said.
“Every effort is being made to … refine the impact as much as possible.”
There will also be measures put in place to try to minimise pollution from the project, including noise barriers.
The EES shows that some motorists are likely to avoid the new road because of tolls, but the government has not revealed what tolling price was used to model the impact.
Mr Elliot said details of the tolling will be “developed in time”, and would be “commensurate with trips and rates per kilometres on other toll roads”.
The EES is now on public exhibition for 40 business days so members of the public can make submissions.
Following the public review, the government will make an assessment of the EES’s recommendations and consider whether changes to the project are required, before it receives final planning approvals.
Ms Allan said the EES gave Victorians a chance to have their say.
“The planning and approvals process goes hand-in-hand with our work with residents, businesses and community groups — understanding how we can work together while building the missing link in our road network,” she said.
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said the Coalition backed the project but was concerned the “flawed design … will unnecessarily destroy local parkland, recreational facilities, homes and schools as well as costing small businesses and jobs”.
The EES said occupants of more than 150 buildings are expected to suffer significant traffic noise from the new road and will receive government-funded glazing and insulation.
New noise walls would cause potential overshadowing for as many as 45 homes.
Other environmental impacts will include the removal of up to 26,000 trees and interference with 14 Aboriginal cultural heritage sites.
The EES will now be subject to public consultation before the government makes any required changes and locks in planning approvals.
— Additional reporting by Matt Johnston and James Dowling
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