Thursday, 10 February 2022

Caulfield electorate level crossing removals

Mr SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (17:25): (6212) My question is to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, who is at the table today. The action I seek is for the minister to immediately halt the Level Crossing Removal Project’s (LXRP) planned destruction of trees as part of the Neerim Road and Glen Huntly Road projects and return to consultation with residents of the City of Glen Eira. As you know, in this chamber I have been a very strong advocate for the removal of these two level crossings. It is pleasing to see these finally going, but it is also important that we get proper consultation when it comes to removing some key trees as part of the overall land management plan in the area.

As it stands, both level crossing removals, on Neerim Road and Glen Huntly Road, will result in substantial, character-destroying vegetation loss in Caulfield East and Glen Huntly. As many as 600 trees will be uprooted on Derby Crescent, Station Place and Dorothy Avenue and at station car parks as well as major losses on Queens Avenue. On Queens Avenue alone plans for a shared-use bike path will require the destruction of over 200 trees, and instead of adequately replacing this canopy the LXRP would only commit to planting small shrubbery in its place. This will irreparably damage the quality of vegetation on the street as a result. The City of Glen Eira has clearly articulated its preference for a design that will preserve as much of the Queens Avenue canopy as possible, and we are asking for the LXRP to return to consultations to work towards a better plan instead of forcing that bike path, resulting in the removal of many of those trees. We should be able to do both.

I have seen the damage caused to Edward Street in Cheltenham, which once had a very lush, green streetscape and was left simply with exposed concrete, metal fences and tokenistic shrubbery. Particularly I take note of Dorothy Avenue, which has got a number of trees to protect itself from the trains. I would hate to see that ending up in the same situation as in Cheltenham. We cannot make that mistake. So I ask for further consultation, proper consultation, with many of the communities that live in those streets to ensure that we protect the valuable open space and also many of those trees. We saw the destruction of a number of trees at the Caulfield Racecourse when an order was signed off by the Minister for Planning on Christmas Eve. A number of trees, including an Aleppo pine tree, were destroyed as a result of that. We cannot make that mistake again, so I ask the minister and urge her to ensure that we get that consultation which is needed—that we absolutely remove these level crossings but we do it right and we do it with the proper consultation to protect the heritage and the tree value in the area.