NSW Greens Statement on the opening of WestConnex M8

WestConnex is one of the most expensive transport infrastructure projects that Australia has ever built. The M8 section of tollroad cost more than $4.3b for a 9 km series of tunnels and the St Peters Interchange.

This polluting, private tollroad further locks people who commute in NSW into a highly tolled transport system that’s unsustainable and environmentally unsound. 

The social and environmental damage of the M8 has been enormous with homes and green spaces bulldozed and communities broken up and dispersed. 

Some of our inner city suburbs, including Newtown, St Peters and Alexandria have been now ringed and carved up by massive above ground, multi-lane roads which will become car parks, as traffic congestion increases and heat sinks, as temperatures rise.

The amount of traffic that will be now funnelled onto local streets and to vibrant King Street is alarming. Roads like Euston Road and Campbell Road have been widened to many lanes around the perimeter of the new St Peters Interchange. This means that traffic will spill out from the Interchange and back up above ground as it is funnelled into smaller residential streets and local roads in the surrounding suburbs.

The King St Gateway was supposed to protect the high street from increased traffic congestion but to date, nothing much has happened. It is unacceptable that local residents and businesses are not being provided with any clear details on this - they are understandably anxious about the impact that this tollroad and the increased congestion will have on their homes and businesses.

Despite this latest opening, there is still no direct connection to Mascot airport or the Port Botany which was the original justification for WestConnex.

The impact on air quality is a major concern for local residents as there will be four large pollution stacks in St Peters – with some in close proximity to St Peters Public school and near local residential apartments.

The impacts for those beyond the inner city, the tolls for the M8 are huge – and tolls are being reintroduced on the existing M5 East. These tolls are some of the highest in Sydney and have made Sydney one of the highest tolled cities in the world. 

Jenny Leong MP, Member for Newtown                                                    

Abigail Boyd MLC, NSW Greens Transport Spokesperson

The NSW Planning Minister has used powers under the COVID-19 Emergency Measures Act to extend the hours developers and construction companies are able to work - clearing the way for 7-days of work on construction sites for existing projects. 

These extended hours have come into force this week causing much concern to residents who will be severely impacted.

At a time when health advice is directing people to maintain social distancing, work from home and stay at home - it is understandable that many are worried about these extended construction hours.

There will no doubt be additional stress put on people living near construction sites who, under these changes, will have to tolerate unbroken days of construction impacts.

Many of our local communities are currently already impacted badly by WestConnex construction - and this will only exacerbate the problem.

Jamie Parker MP, NSW Greens spokesperson on Planning released this statement and continues to advocate for communities impacted by these changes. You can see him on a recent interview on Nine News here.

It is clear that the Government must:

• Stop all night work
• Provide effective noise and dust mitigation
• Install noise and vibration monitors in impacted homes
• Provide a strict noise timetable. 

M4-M5 Tunnel Route

This is the M4-M5 tunnel route map which allows you to zoom into your street address and see whether tunnelling will occur under your property and what the proposed depth of the tunnel will be. Just hold your mouse over your location and you will see the information appear in a pop out box.

Sub-Stratum Acquisitions

If your home is directly above the tunnel route, the Government will compulsorily acquire the land underneath the property. You will be sent a Property Acquisition Notice (PAN) under the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991 before any tunnelling commences. This compulsory acquisition does not prevent a property owner from selling/buying/re-mortgaging their property.

You can contact RMS for more information about substratum acquisitions by calling (02) 8849 2308 during working hours.

Property precondition assessments 

If your home is above or within 50 metres from the proposed tunnel, you should receive an offer for a free property pre and post condition assessment from the RMS. If you want more information about this and other information about the M4-M5 works you can find it here.  

Independent Property Impact Assessment Panel

This panel is responsible for independently reviewing condition reports, resolution of property damage disputes and the establishment of ongoing settlement and vibration monitoring requirements. Either party can refer a dispute to the Panel with all costs borne by the RMS. For information on this panel contact RMS. 

WestConnex Community Reference Groups

Local community members can have issues raised via the WestConnex Community Reference Group and the Inner West Council's WestConnex Community Liaison Forum meetings. You can contact the Inner West Council for more information on these groups. 

Community groups such as the WestConnex Action Group, Newtown Residents Against WestConnex, Leichhardt Against WestConnex and Rozelle Against WestConnex also provide information about local campaigns and developments. 

How to complain

• Contact WestConnex for general information and the complaint line - 1800 660 248
• Contact the NSW Environment Protection Authority about out-of-hours works, noise, dust, fumes, odour or any form of pollution.
• Contact the Department of Planning, Industry & Environment's WestConnex Compliance Officer about construction work, workers, traffic or pedestrian changes - 1300 305 695.

The Greens are calling for

• The redirection of funding from WestConnex and the M4-M5 Tunnel and Rozelle Interchange into world class public transport
• Deeper tunnelling
• Expansion of the zone of influence to 250m
• Vibration monitoring at homes within the zone of influence
• Deployment of ground movement detection and satellite technology to confirm causation of property damage
• Commitment to compensating property owners for compulsory underground acquisitions

Additionally here are some of my speeches in parliament about WestConnex and these are a range of Questions on Notice on WestConnex that our office has submitted over the years. The Greens in the NSW parliament succeeded in establishing an Inquiry into WestConnex and the Findings and Recommendations of this NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the Impact of WestConnex are here. Further information is available via our Stop WestConnex website.

Please feel free to contact our office via email [email protected] or phone us on 95172800 should you require any further information on the impact of WestConnex.

The release of the Berejiklian government’s response to the Recommendations of the Public Accountability Committee’s Inquiry into the Impact of WestConnex shows contempt for those who have been significantly and negatively affected by WestConnex and for the committee process as a whole.

 Many community members campaigned long and hard for this Inquiry and at times the testimonies provided were highly emotional and demonstrated the personal and financial toll WestConnex has had on so many people.

Greens announce plan for air quality monitors in pollution ‘hot spots’ on WestConnex route

Jenny Leong MP for Newtown and Jamie Parker MP for Balmain have announced the Greens’ plan to address evidence of worsening air quality in Sydney.

The Greens are calling for air pollution monitors to be installed at all local primary schools in close proximity to WestConnex construction zones and exhaust stacks.

M4-M5 Tunnel Route

This is the M4-M5 tunnel route map which allows you to zoom into your street address and see whether tunnelling will occur under your property and what the proposed depth of the tunnel will be. Just hold your mouse over your location and you will see the information appear in a pop out box.

Sub-Stratum Acquisitions

If your home is directly above the tunnel route, the Government will compulsorily acquire the land underneath the property. You will be sent a Property Acquisition Notice (PAN) under the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991 before any tunnelling commences. This compulsory acquisition does not prevent a property owner from selling/buying/re-mortgaging their property.

You can contact RMS for more information about substratum acquisitions by calling (02) 8849 2308 during working hours.

Property precondition assessments 

If your home is above or within 50 metres from the proposed tunnel, you should receive an offer for a free property pre and post condition assessment from the RMS. 

Independent Property Impact Assessment Panel

This panel is responsible for independently reviewing condition reports, resolution of property damage disputes and the establishment of ongoing settlement and vibration monitoring requirements. Either party can refer a dispute to the Panel with all costs borne by the RMS. For information on this panel contact RMS. 

WestConnex Community Reference Groups

Local community members can have issues raised via the WestConnex Community Reference Group and the Inner West Council's WestConnex Community Liaison Forum meetings. You can contact the Inner West Council for more information on these groups. 

Community groups such as the WestConnex Action Group, Newtown Residents Against WestConnex, Leichhardt Against WestConnex and Rozelle Against WestConnex also provide information about local campaigns and developments. 

How to complain

• Contact WestConnex for general information and the complaint line - 1800 660 248
• Contact the NSW Environment Protection Authority about out-of-hours works, noise, dust, fumes, odour or any form of pollution.
• Contact the Department of Planning, Industry & Environment's WestConnex Compliance Officer about construction work, workers, traffic or pedestrian changes - 1300 305 695.

The Greens are calling for

• The redirection of funding from WestConnex and the M4-M5 Tunnel and Rozelle Interchange into world class public transport
• Deeper tunnelling
• Expansion of the zone of influence to 250m
• Vibration monitoring at homes within the zone of influence
• Deployment of ground movement detection and satellite technology to confirm causation of property damage
• Commitment to compensating property owners for compulsory underground acquisitions

Additionally here are some of my speeches in parliament about WestConnex and these are a range of Questions on Notice on WestConnex that our office has submitted over the years. The Greens in the NSW parliament succeeded in establishing an Inquiry into WestConnex and the Findings and Recommendations of this NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the Impact of WestConnex are here. Further information is available via our Stop WestConnex website.

Please feel free to contact our office via email [email protected] or phone us on 95172800 should you require any further information on the impact of WestConnex.

Community Impact

In December 2018 details of the latest WestConnex M4-M5 route and tunnel depths were published on an interactive map which showed a large number of locations where the proposed tunnel depths would be far shallower than previously indicated. 

Depths of between 16-25 metres under many residential streets in St Peters, Camperdown, Annandale and Leichhardt are unacceptable given the severe impacts which have already been seen on homes in other areas at deeper tunneling depths. 

The Greens and affected community members are calling for the following: 

• Scrap WestConnex and redirect money into public transport
• Deeper tunnelling
• Community representative on the RMS damage assessment panel
• Expand the zone of influence to 250m
• Vibration monitoring at homes within zone of influence
• Deploy ground movement detection technology to confirm causation of property damage
• Commit to compensating property owners for compulsory underground acquisitions
  
  

Our office wrote to the Premier,  Planning Minister Roberts and WestConnex Minister Ayres in December alerting them to the unacceptable tunnel depths and lack of consultation on the new route and the shallow tunnel depths and called on them to ensure that the new plans were considered properly.  The response we received in February is unsatisfactory and did not address the issues our office raised in relation to the changed tunnel depths.

You can take action and call on the Premier to act to ensure that the proposed tunnel depths through Leichhardt, Annandale, Stanmore, Camperdown,Newtown and St Peters are reconsidered as a matter of urgency and that the community is given a formal opportunity to respond to these tunnel depths as well as the new route.

You can download a hard copy of this letter and share it with your neighbours.

The proposed WestConnex M4-M5 Link tunnel will cut an 8 lane underground tollway under Newtown and Camperdown from St Peters to Haberfield.  

If this proposal goes ahead, it has the potential to impact thousands of residents and their homes. Sign up here to receive important updates about this issue. 

The government will compulsorily acquire land beneath properties in this area without offering compensation or an appeals process. This acquisition will be noted on land titles and the tunneling could result in serious, permanent damage to homes.

It is unacceptable that local residents haven’t been properly consulted or informed about this. 

This local community meeting will bring together those impacted by the proposed tunnel to share information and plan a response. It will also be an opportunity to hear from people who have had direct experience dealing with WestConnex tunneling damage as well as the compulsory acquisition process.

Working with local residents, community activists and experts who have been campaigning against WestConnex, we are doing all that we can to gather information and build momentum to stop this tunnel from causing serious damage to local homes and our neighbourhoods.

It's a mammoth task to try to overturn a project of this scale when there is support from both the Liberals/Nationals and Labor for it to continue - but that doesn't mean we should give up. There's too much at stake - and we know that it doesn't have to be this way, which is why we will keep the pressure on and keep trying to do all we can to stop it from devastating our homes, our communities and our environment.

The Greens respond to the Report by the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Impact of WestConnex which was secured by the Greens and the community.

Greens Member for Newtown Jenny Leong MP:

“The evidence and Recommendations of the Report demonstrate that this project has been a debacle.

“The planning, delivery, financing and lack of transparency has caused significant negative impacts on the community.

“The damage that his project will have on our community is far from over with years of devastating construction and billions of dollars of expenses still to come.

According to the WestConnex M4-M5 Link interactive map showing the proposed tunnel depths throughout the Inner West, many homes located above parts of the route will be potentially irrevocably damaged, according to Greens Member for Newtown Jenny Leong MP and, Jamie Parker MP, Greens Member for Balmain.

Jenny Leong MP:

“Work on the M4-M5 WestConnex 8-lane tunnel should be stopped immediately as the impact on many residents’ homes along the route will be disastrous.
“Depths of between 16-25 metres under many residential streets in Camperdown, Annandale and Leichhardt are extremely worrying given the severe impacts we have already seen on homes in other areas at deeper tunneling depths,” she said.

The NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the impact of WestConnex concluded it's 4 days of hearings on November 7, 2018.

This Inquiry brought together damming evidence of insufficient planning and haphazard management of the project by various government agencies from RMS and Planning to Treasury.

The shocking impact WestConnex has had on local communities and the negative impacts it will continue to have in relation to the ongoing years of construction, air quality and traffic congestion in the Inner West was described by many community representatives and health and transport experts. The financial machinations and movements of key personnel from government to financial institutions and construction companies with interests and contracts in WestConnex, were exposed. 

The Committee heard from 78 witnesses including 33 community and specialist speakers and 35 government and agency speakers. You can find all the Transcripts here.

Additionally the Inquiry received 556 submissions as well as the submission from Jamie Parker MP, Greens Member for Balmain which included an extra 975 online submissions from constituents. 

The Committee will hand down its Recommendations by December 17, 2018.