BRIMBANK residents are outraged that more than 50 trees have been removed in Albion as part of Regional Railway Link works.
Stage one of the $5 billion railway project includes two new tracks between Moonee Ponds Creek and Sunshine, rail bridge upgrades over Kororoit Creek, a new rail-over-road separation at Robinsons Road in Deer Park and improvements at Sunshine station. The project will allow regional and metropolitan trains to be separated by early 2016.
Deer Park resident Larissa Stewart said locals were shocked last week to discover 50 trees had been cut down along Forrest Street in Albion. She said distressed residents wanted more consultation from the RRL Authority.
“Residents were not notified of this aspect of the plan,” she said. “If we had been, we most definitely would have disputed it. The trees’ roots held banks together under the Kororoit Creek and they reduced erosion.”
Fix the Links action group spokeswoman Geraldine Brooks said residents wanted to see a landscape plan for replacement vegetation. “We want to see a timeline of works and want to know why there was a need to kill so many trees, some of which have been there for many years.”
An RRL Authority spokesman said almost 3000 residents were notified of the work in December last year. “As part of the Regional Rail link project, the Footscray-Deer Park team will be replacing timber deck and beams on the northern Kororoit Creek rail bridge,” he said. “Some trees around the creek were required to be removed to enable construction of two temporary concrete crane panels which will be used to facilitate this work in 2012 and 2013.”
He said the Footscray-Deer Park RRL project team visited the site with council and the Friends of Kororoit Creek representatives in mid-December to discuss revegetation plans. Ms Brooks said residents were still awaiting a draft noise policy, which was meant to be completed before the end of last year. She said the action group would continue to pressure the state government to secure funding for noise mitigation in the Deer Park corridor and advocate for consultation between residents, Brimbank Council and the RRL Authority.
