Ski Harris on the impact of new East Ipswich train station on local residents

Ipswich residents say the construction of a new train station near their homes is taking a huge toll on their health and wellbeing and the significant project was thrust upon them without enough warning.

East Ipswich resident Skie Harris said not enough consultation was conducted with local residents about a new train station for the suburb and her family’s health was being severely impacted by nightworks.

Ipswich residents say the construction of a new $35 million train station near their homes is taking a huge toll on their health and wellbeing as night works severely disrupt families’ sleep.

The state government said the new East Ipswich station, which is being built 120 metres east of the existing outdated facility, is on track to be completed by the end of the year after works started two years ago.

“Significant and regular community engagement” has been conducted with local residents since early 2018 according to Queensland Rail but Ski Harris believed it wasn’t nearly enough for those living on the streets directly opposite the new facility.

Render of the new East Ipswich train station, which is set to be completed by the end of the year.

For some residents on Merton and Coronation streets, living near a train station isn’t anything new but the new location of the station was causing stress and anxiety among her neighbours who are not used to it being right on their doorstep.

Mrs Harris, who lives on Merton Street, said a meeting was organised with QR representatives when residents became aware the project was going ahead.

Early works started in August 2019.

“It was May when we were notified. That’s a very short timeline,” she said.

“It was the fact that we were informed they were going to be doing that project and literally the next week they announced it to the public. With a background in construction, I was under the assumption there’s a five-year plan.

“We could have gone well, we’ll make an executive decision and move because we don’t want a train station in front of our house. We were assured there’d be minimal disruption to us.

“The outcome of that was more it didn’t really go anywhere.

“It wasn’t really a resolution for any of us. If we knew about this five years prior to the announcement we would have prepared ourselves differently. We had to accept the fact that they’re going ahead and building this train station.”

East Ipswich resident Ski Harris lives on Merton Street directly opposite the station.

The mum of two said it was after night works started at the end of 2019 that it really started to have an impact on her family’s life.

Night works have been carried out in blocks of several days at a time over the year-and-a-half since they started, Ms Harris said.

“The first round was maybe three nights,” she said.

“That was enough to cause disruption. I’ve got young kids. They were waking through the night too and then we had to get up and get on with our day. It’s a nightmare.

“I had to go home sick one day because I couldn’t physically function. I was feeling like I was going to be sick. I had headaches. I shouldn’t have been operating my car.

“I was putting my life and my children’s lives at risk and other people’s lives at risk by doing so.”

Mrs Harris, 38, said she had repeatedly voiced her concerns on behalf of her street to QR but it fell on deaf ears.

She claimed dust had not been properly managed during the early stages of works with one neighbour having to move her asthmatic son.

Mrs Harris said she hadn’t wanted to go to the media but it had gotten to a point where she needed to make a stand.

“It was really disheartening to (voice concerns) and they’d go ‘so and so doesn’t condone relocation (of works) for those nights’,” she said.

“I kept getting that response. I said look this is what it’s doing to me, this is what it’s doing to my street. This is the effect.

“You can’t get into that deep sleep which your body requires to function. They’ve got generators running, they’ve got lights shining, they’ve got machinery running and people using power tools.

A new footbridge was installed in May.

“I understand there’s ways they have to do things because of safety. You’re doing that on a safety perspective for your crew on site, where’s that for the residents?

“Because they wouldn’t be sending them to work knowing they haven’t slept properly. They wouldn’t be putting them on the tools.

“It’s not just the next night when they’re not doing the night works when you can catch up. You then spend a few days trying to catch up.

“It continues through the week of having to try and manage that sleep deprivation. We’re told in advance four or five days (before). I work in construction and I know you’ve got a timeline and I’m sure they know two months in advance when they’re doing it. There isn’t much time to prepare.”

Mrs Harris said her and her partner put a contract on their house in March last year as it was becoming too much, but pulled out as Covid-19 hit.

“The market at the moment is ridiculous,” she said.

“We tried to get ourselves away from the situation and we’re just sort of stuck now.

“I haven’t been asking for any compensation. The only thing I’ve ever asked for is somewhere for us to sleep during the night works.

“I don’t want a platform looking down onto my house. I’ve been put into a compromised position because of a decision the government has made. I think it’s really unfair.”

Work on the new $35 million station started in 2019.

QR Head of South East Queensland Scott Riedel said it was inevitable a project of this scale “comes with some disruption”.

“We’ve been working hard to manage this as best we can,” he said.

“While most work is completed during the day, it’s important to remember that this is a live rail environment powered with 25,000 volts of electricity with trains moving through at speed, and customers rely on the station during the day.

“Some work is therefore required to be undertaken out of hours when we can safely shut down our operations without major impacts to commuters.

“Since the very beginning of this project in early 2018, well before shovels hit the ground, we have been in regular communication with residents to provide updates and notify of upcoming work, including any night works or expected impacts.

“Community feedback has helped to inform several changes to the station design, including the station layout, heritage considerations, the addition of a mural and extra landscaping.”

A QR spokeswoman said community engagement has taken place since May 2018 and included station information sessions, quarterly and monthly project updates, letterbox drops, door knock sessions, social media promotions, community forums, phone calls, emails and works notices.

The new station is being built 120 metres from the existing facility.

“Project updates and work notices are published online, displayed at the station and distributed to a subscription email list and to residents within a 250-metre radius of East Ipswich station,” she said.

“Some work requires access to the track or isolation of the overhead power lines to be carried out safely and therefore must be conducted at night when no trains are scheduled, or during the scheduled weekend closures of the line.

“The directly impacted residents also have a dedicated contact within Queensland Rail, who has provided significant face-to-face, email and phone engagement since the beginning of the project.

“The project team works hard to minimise impacts to neighbouring residents. Site controls are in place to manage potential generation of dust.

“This includes laying gravel on exposed dirt, use of a water truck during dust-generating works and wetting down of any materials prior to movement.

“Plans were revised to construct the station 120 metres further east, with a new station entrance from Merton Street and an upgraded station entrance on the corner of Gibbon and Coronation Streets.

“Forty metres of the new high-level platforms overlap with the original station platforms.

“In terms of size, the new station has approximately the same footprint as the original, however with additional features, such as the accessible overbridge with lifts.”

Demolition of the previous station infrastructure is set to be completed by mid next year.

Read more stories by Lachlan McIvor here.

Originally published as Ski Harris on the impact of new East Ipswich train station on local residents