Melbourne City Council voted last night to continue its opposition to Stage 1B of the East West Link and called for the Napthine government not to sign contracts before the November state election. Six councillors supported a motion moved by Cr Rohan Leppert while five councillors including Lord Mayor Robert Doyle voted against the ten-point […]
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What’s been said about the East West Link
Here begins a summary of the comments made about the East West Link over the past 28 days at the public hearings. More will be added to this list as the hearings wrap up today and tomorrow. What’s been said about the East West Link 1. The process has lacked rigour Three engineers told the […]
Why is the East West Link a threat to zoo animals?
Opinion article by Michael Petit The proposed East West Link presents a threat to the animals at Melbourne Zoo. If Oregon can shut down highway construction adjacent to its zoo for four months over concerns about the health of one pregnant elephant, what are the ongoing risks to the animals at Melbourne Zoo? These are […]
HEARINGS STRIKE CONGESTION AS SUBMITTERS QUEUE FOR THE MICROPHONE
By Andrew Herington Fourteen submissions were squeezed into Day 23 with a succession of detailed presentations on a diverse range of topics – baseball, impacts on Flemington, the use of sat-nav systems to reduce congestion, a new bike arterial to the eastern suburbs, the impact on Clifton Hill Primary School, air quality, Moonee Ponds Creek and […]
LMA property acquisition tactics come under scrutiny
Tell them they’re dreaming By Andrew Herington The theme for Day 21 was the rights of homeowners and the shocking disregard LMA have had for fair process. As Ben Hardwick from Slater and Gordon pointed out – it seems like nothing has been learned from the shambolic property resumption process followed for the Regional Rail […]
A STRANGE LULL AT HALF TIME
By Andrew Herington The tempo of the hearings dropped markedly today as the last of the council witnesses were heard. Michelle Zeibots, a Sydney academic who has specialised in induced traffic gave a strong performance explaining in detail the numerous factors that result in overall traffic increases when new road space is provided. The LMA has […]
MOONEE VALLEY OPENS ITS CASE
By Andrew Herington The focus shifted today to the inner northern suburbs with expert witnesses appearing for the Moonee Valley City Council tackling traffic and noise impacts. Louise Hicks for the Council began by tabling a huge folder of detailed policies covering planning, transport, environment, open space and other issues. Quoting liberally from the documents […]
Day 10: LAWYERS VERSUS EXPERTS AT TEN PACES
By Andrew Herington It seems that the next few days are destined to settle into a pattern of ‘lawyers versus experts at ten paces’. The LMA has introduced its arguments and laid out the case. The Councils are now seeking to demolish it brick by brick whilst the LMA try to defend their original choice […]
PREVIEW OF WEEK 3 – COUNCILS PUT the CASE AGAINST
By Andrew Herington The hearings have now moved into the second of three phases. For the next ten days, we will be hearing from the Councils and their expert witnesses putting the detailed case against the East West Link. This will be followed by two days of presentations from the EPA and local politicians before […]
LMA closes its case
By Andrew Herington As the LMA case wraps up, it is fair to say the experts they called to argue the case for the East West Link were underwhelming. This reflects the small pool of specialised knowledge in Australia – and the choices made by the proponent and consultants to defend the project and the […]
Live Blog starts 3 March
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