A proposed rail link from Melbourne Airport, through Sunshine to the CBD must be identified as soon as possible, Brimbank council says.
In its submission to Infrastructure Victoria’s 30-year strategy for Melbourne, the council said a link through Sunshine would further cement its role as a major transport, employment, health and business centre for the west.
“Sunshine is the public transport hub of the west,” its submission stated.
“The alignment of the route needs to be identified as soon as possible to secure land and other reservations. The securing of the alignment via Sunshine will further enhance the attractiveness of the Sunshine NEC (national employment and innovation cluster) as a major employment, investment and development focus.”
In the submission, council officers said they believe the strategy was a “20th century approach to metropolitan development, which focused more on growth in the east than in the west”.
They also believe the western distributor will not address broader transport issues, but they backed Infrastructure Victoria’s calls for the electrification of the rail line from Sunshine to Melton, saying: “This will enable Sunshine to provide more employment for the communities of the western growth areas.”
Several Brimbank councillors were less than impressed with the 30-year strategy.
Cr Bruce Lancashire noted that the council officers responsible for preparing the submission were at odds with Infrastructure Victoria in several areas.
“It is disappointing … [councillors] haven’t been involved in the submissions and in the reviewing of the document, given it’s a 30-year document,” he said.
“Certainly I think the officers were flagging some issues for Brimbank, and I think we need to have a better look at that.”
Cr John Hedditch said the strategy was a “vital one for the community”.
“I understand it was a fairly rushed process that went on over the council elections,” he said.
