‘Slap in the face’: Residents sent care packages filled with tea, biscuits to cope with Suburban Rail Loop night works at Heatherton
Residents who live near a Suburban Rail Loop construction site have been sent taxpayer-funded “care packages” ahead of upcoming night works. Not everyone was happy with what was inside.
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Residents bracing for night-time construction at a Suburban Rail Loop site say they are insulted after receiving taxpayer-funded compensatory tea and biscuit “care packages”.
Tunnel entrances at a Heatherton train stabling yard will be built during the second half of this year, with work to include piling rigs and concrete walls for a huge acoustic shed, as well as jet grouting to stabilise the ground.
Nearby households have been warned the work could continue until 10pm when concrete is poured.
They recently received packages from the Suburban Rail Loop East project, with a note saying they were “to help make the evenings a little more comfortable”.
As well as snacks, residents received a $30 voucher they could use to go to the movies or could be transferred to a mental health charity — a suggestion that triggered social media uproar.
Michelle Hornstein, who lives next to the land set to be transformed into a 24/7 train stabling facility, said the gesture was “utterly insulting” given the anguish felt by many residents.
“They are saying we’re about to make your life a living hell and your home unliveable with noisy works … and here is some tea and biscuits to make you feel better,” she said.
Others described it online as “embarrassing”, while some joked that the tea and biscuits looked as though they had come from Christmas hampers or staff tea rooms.
One said the gesture would probably not win many hearts and might have been better spent on other measures.
But Suburban Rail Loop Minister Harriet Shing has defended the tea and biscuit care packages, saying it was part of “a whole suite of support”.
“Anybody who has lived around a Big Build location around the city will know that there is disruption and that we do need to make sure that we recognise that and provide some steps and processes to mitigate that interruption,” she said.
Existing SRL support measures included noise cancelling headphones, the option of double glazing on windows, and even voluntary acquisitions to reduce the impact of big projects on nearby residents.
Meanwhile, the huge acoustic shed being built at Heatherton is designed to block some construction noise, and was included in plans due to community feedback.
So when asked how tea and biscuits could help residents with night time noise, Ms Shing said it was a way of recognising the difficulties of larger construction projects.
“I don’t actually know the range of biscuits on offer … and I’m not sure what they taste like but again, this is part of a recognition of the impact of large scale construction,” she said.
“And it is a gesture, but it’s part of a much broader engagement in an ongoing conversation that includes many more significant offerings.”
The SRL East is a 26km tunnel from Cheltenham to Box Hill with six underground stations and stabling yard, where trains will emerge briefly above the ground.
It is expected to open in 2035 and cost $34.5 billion.
Opposition major projects spokesman, Evan Mulholland, said the care packages were “an absolute slap in the face to the hardworking families who are enduring unimaginable stress and disruption”.
A government spokesperson said major construction at Heatherton would enable crews to build two tunnel entrances for the SRL East stabling facility, and that a project of this scale and complexity involved unavoidable disruption.
They said support had been provided to individual households for several years and that the acoustic shed and tailored support options would help to manage impacts.
“We’re powering ahead with construction of the Suburban Rail Loop, TBMs (tunnel boring machines) will arrive by the end of this year, tunnelling will start next year and trains will take passengers in 2035,” they said.
“A stabling facility near the start of the line is critical to delivering a turn-up-and-go service.”
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