‘Sickening to watch’: Scale of acquisitions for airport line upsets landowners

Small landowners near the new airport in western Sydney who will be forced to sell their homes to make way for an $11 billion rail line say the state government has failed to justify the scale of compulsory acquisitions planned for the construction of a train station.

They are also upset about a process that led some of them to believe the line would not impact their homes, only to later be told their entire properties would be snapped up for the project.

Orchard Hills residents Christine and Jason Vella will be forced to sell their home of almost 12 years.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Orchard Hills property owner Christine Vella said authorities had not explained why more than 26 hectares needed to be acquired for construction of the station planned for the area.

“It is sickening to watch,” she said, referring to the “enormous emotional toll” the acquisition process is taking on neighbours.

“We don’t have a good reason why we are losing our homes. There are a lot of elderly here, and some of them have had their children acting on their behalf. Many have lived here for over 50 years.”

Mrs Vella and husband Jason are among more than a dozen landowners whose properties will be acquired for construction of the Orchard Hills station. They have been told that the acquisitions for the Western Sydney Airport line will be completed early next year.

Newly weds Jesse and Lauren Vella halted their renovations when they were told their property would be acquired.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

“We understand that infrastructure needs to come. We just don’t want to lose our family homes for nothing,” Mrs Vella said.

“We are trying to negotiate in a reasonable way.”

The landowners’ main concern is the government is acquiring more than 26 hectares for construction of the station, compared with 1.57 hectares for a train station at Westmead, near Parramatta, as part of another rail project known as Metro West.

The rail line is due to be completed in time for the opening of Western Sydney Airport in 2026.Credit: Brook Mitchell

It is a juxtaposition that Sydney Metro, which is delivering both projects, rejects as an “apples and oranges comparison”.

Until September, Orchard Hills residents Jesse and Lauren Vella say they were assured that their two-hectare property would not be affected because the airport rail line would be tunnelled underneath.

“It was made quite clear that our property would not be affected,” Mr Vella said.

The newlyweds’ house renovations were brought to a shuddering halt in September when they were told their entire property would be acquired. “What’s the point [finishing it]?” Mr Vella said.

His grandmother’s property next door will also be acquired. “She’s taking it pretty badly,” he said.

Mr Vella said the landowners could not understand why Sydney Metro was not offering to temporarily lease properties that were not needed once construction was finished.

“We are not against infrastructure at all but we just want it to be justified,” he said.

The Orchard Hills station is one of six to be built along the 23-kilometre rail line from St Marys to Bringelly via the new airport at Badgerys Creek.

Three of the stations will be built on government-owned land, including two on the airport site and another at Bringelly.

Labor’s spokesman for Western Sydney, Greg Warren, said the government must explain why it needs to acquire so much land at Orchard Hills.

“If this government is going to acquire people’s land and homes, it needs to explain and justify those decisions to impacted residents as well as the wider NSW public. All those impacted, whether they be large or small landowners, must be treated with the same respect,” he said.

Sydney Metro said comparing land required for different station sites was disingenuous because each was different and some required significantly more land for activities like tunnel boring machine operations.

“Westmead is an underground station in a highly urbanised environment at the end of the line while Orchard Hills is in a low density area, will be built in a cutting (open to the sky) and will also be required to launch two mega tunnel boring machines,” it said.

The agency said the Orchard Hills station would service a future residential and mixed-use precinct, helping to transform the area into a high-amenity new community.

“As a new area, opportunities for future integrated station and precinct development are being investigated – using the same place making principles as other Sydney Metro lines,” it said.

“[The entire airport rail] project has been refined over the past three years to get the best outcome for customers and the community.”

A confidential report, completed in October 2019, shows Sydney Metro intended to acquire the properties at Orchard Hills at “market value” based on their “existing rural/residential use”.

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