Sky rail: community slams level crossing report

By JOSHUA KAYE

Residents and environmental groups have dismissed a report into plans for parkland along the Cranbourne-Pakenham railway, labelling it “contradictory” and “ambiguous”.

The report, commissioned by the Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA), sets out the State Government’s plan to convert the area underneath the controversial sky rail into community open space.

Glen Eira Environment Group secretary Paul Caine said the report was unsatisfactory.

“This is just another one of those broad brush-stroke expert panel reports. You could drive trucks through the loopholes in it,” he said.

Nearly 23 hectares of open space will be created by elevating sections of the rail line between Caulfield and Dandenong.

The report lists nine recommendations for the area, including planting new trees and constructing recreation facilities such as bike paths and playgrounds.

Mr Caine was concerned at the lack of specifics in the report, saying it gave developers authority to implement whatever they wanted.

“It fudges around the edges of things like ‘dynamic and resilient landscaping’,” he said.

“What is ‘dynamic and resilient landscaping’? They’re colourful words that give someone a lot of room to manoeuvre.”

Local resident Catherine Pendelich said the report was "farcical".

“We’re a community that have had 250 to 300-year-old river red gums cut down … and now they want to put ping pong tables in,” she said.

Ms Pendelich, who is also a member of Lower Our Tracks Incorporated (LOTI), said she shared Mr Caine’s concerns that the final outcome would differ from the report.

“[The LXRA] write things, they make statements, and they do lots of planning,” she said.

“But the reality of what actually happens is always subject to change.”

However, LXRA operations director Trent Woodberry said the recommendations would be implemented in full.

“We commit to developing the open space,” he said.

“The whole LXRA looks forward to two things: releasing the final design late 2017, so people can see it in design form, and then actually constructing and building the new parkland throughout all of 2018.”

Community consultation not ‘ticking boxes’

Residents also said they were frustrated by the community consultation process, including online surveys conducted by the LXRA.

Ms Pendelich said the structure of the surveys prevented her from having her say.

“If they had six choices there and you didn’t agree with any of them … you couldn’t progress,” she said.

“Basically, we’ve been given choices, we haven’t been asked to consult.”

She also said that LOTI, despite having 980 members, was not asked to sit on the panel that wrote the report.

But the LXRA denied the group had been prevented from contributing, saying the consultation process was genuine.

“Any one of their representatives would have been on our mailing lists, they could participate in any of the online information tools, and they could have come to any of our meetings,” Mr Woodberry said.

“We did meet with individuals within that group one-on-one, so I feel that we’ve provided lots of opportunities for them to be involved.”

But Mr Caine also said that while the LXRA was receptive to suggestions from the Glen Eira Environment Group, the content of the report led him to believe the consultation process was formulaic.

“I think the community is getting very sceptical about public consultation processes – it’s just another box to tick,” he said.

However, Mr Woodberry denied the allegations.

“I don’t think there’s ever been an infrastructure project that’s had this amount of consultation undertaken for a particular open space,” he said.

“We feel that the report has outlined some key themes that address what the majority of people said in the feedback – and our design will be reflective of those themes.”

Report ‘like salt to a wound’

Ms Pendelich also said the report aggravated the community’s frustration over the level crossing removal.

“We as a community have been incredibly wounded by this. It’s had huge ramifications for people’s lives, and for me personally,” she said.

Ms Pendelich recently sold her Carnegie home under the sky rail Voluntary Purchase Scheme, given the line would overshadow the property.

But she said the compensation she received would not allow her to remain in the area.

“I work from home, I have a business at home,” she said.

“That’s why it was a very big decision. So basically, I’ve let my business go here – my music studio – and I’m now working full-time in education.”

“It’s had major implications on my life.”

The State Government announced its plan to remove nine level crossings by elevating parts of the Cranbourne-Pakenham line in February last year.

The Community Open Space Expert Panel Report can be found at this link.