KINGSTON Council has asked for help from residents as it drafts its submission to the Suburban Rail Loop’s Environmental Effects Statement hearings.
Council has opposed the state government’s plans to put stabling for the rail loop on the site of a former landfill in Heatherton. The land had been earmarked for a regional sporting facility.
An EES process is currently underway to evaluate the plans. Kingston Council is in the process of putting together its submission, and has asked for interested community members to contribute.
Kingston councillor Hadi Saab said “we have assembled a team of experts to assist us to respond to the EES. We will also propose a range of measures and ideas to ensure we get the most favourable outcome for the community from this once-in-a-generation project, but we need the community’s input.” The mayor Steve Staikos agreed, saying that council “will work hard to advance and protect the community’s interests as best we can through the process.”
To provide feedback to council visit yourkingstonyoursay.com.au/srl-heatherton.
In late 2020, the state government confirmed that the former Delta landfill site in Heatherton was its preferred location for suburban rail loop stabling yards. Earlier this year, suburban rail loop minister Jacinta Allan said “you can’t build a turn-up-and-go rail network through Melbourne’s middle suburbs, without a facility nearby to service and clean the fleet of trains. This is the best location for the suburban rail loop train stabling, minimising compulsory acquisition of homes, businesses and parkland – and it will deliver more than 200 local jobs” (“Stabling plan sparks protest” The News 17/3/21).
For more information on the EES process visit engage.vic.gov.au/srl-stage-one-ees-scoping-requirements
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 15 September 2021
2 Comments
Very disappointing that you did not seek any of the local community’s comments on this project. The SRL stabling yard is not just a stabling and maintenance yard – it will also be the location of over a decade of tunneling and drilling works during the construction phase. This is a huge industrial scale project in the Kingston Green Wedge – which belongs to the whole of the South East community and makes our suburbs liveable. Large-scale industrial uses should be located in industrial areas, not the green spaces that keep us all healthy and happy.
The Heatherton site for the staling yard is in the highest protected Green Wedge ‘A’ Zone. To use such a massive amount of open space (Kingston City had planned for the 50 hectare site to be parkland and much-needed sports fields) for an industrial type facility is such a misguided use of government funding. How can this be considered cost-effective with our state’s need to manage climate change? These clowns have seen a site under rehabilitation and totally omitted to price in any costs for the future parkland and much needed open space where people can walk and gain some piece of mind in our Covid-dependent future. The preferred site is just over a km from the Moorabbin Industrial zone where it would not have affected the 100s of homes that are a stone’s throw away. The stabling yard will be used to remove most of the soil from tunneling for the decade-long project. Shame on you Labor.