Thursday, 4 June 2026

 Brad ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (14:35): (1668) My constituency question is to the Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop. This week at practically no notice residents of Highett and Cheltenham received a letter box drop informing them that works slated to begin next year at the Sir William Fry Reserve on the Suburban Rail Loop had been fast tracked to begin just next week. These residents received no warning and no consultation surrounding this decision. This area of our community is already under immense traffic pressure, further exacerbated by the failed attempt by the Department of Transport and Planning to begin works on the Graham and Bay roads intersection. These fast-tracked works will lock in the removal of green space from the Sir William Fry Reserve, and I therefore ask the minister: why has the government chosen to fast track works at the Cheltenham SRL site without community consultation, making themselves look busy in an election year and bypassing community consultation and respect for residents in the process?