Police called as WestConnex protesters occupy Baird’s office

BY WENDY BACON

A group of anti-Westconnex campaigners occupied NSW Premier Mike Baird’s office on Monday, October 26 to protest against undemocratic planning processes in the WestConnex development.

Specifically in the protester’s sights was the proposed M4 East tunnel between Homebush and Haberfield in Sydney’s inner west.

Two of the protesters locked onto the door of the Premier’s electoral office in Manly, while the group demanded that the project be suspended until there has been an independent review.

Police were called and protesters told City Hub that they could hear a police helicopter circling overhead. After about an hour, they agreed to leave without anyone being arrested.

‘No WestConnex Public Transport’ spokesperson Cassi Plate accused the government of circumventing normal planning processes.

“WestConnex has failed the single gateway review that has been conducted, there is no publicly available business case for the project, and the NSW Auditor General has raised serious concerns about this project. Yet despite all this, hundreds of homes and businesses are being compulsorily acquired and work has already commenced,” Ms Plate said.

The WestConnex planning process is highly unusual, as billion dollar construction contracts have been let. Hundreds of residents along the M4 East route in Strathfield, Concord and Haberfield are being forced from their homes before Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) have even been lodged or planning approval granted.

Another of the protesters Pam Blacker told City Hub that it was a case of “planning done backwards”.

“[The] Premier already knows the outcome he wants, and everything else is being compromised and manipulated to achieve the outcome,” Ms Blacker said.

“The Premier is ramming this down our throats, and families and businesses facing eviction have no opportunity to respond.”

Anti-WestConnex campaigners also complained that by dealing with the project in stages, the government was preventing any scrutiny of the total negative impacts of the project.

NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes did not reply to hundreds of letters from residents asking for an extension to the 55 day period allowed to submit responses to the 5000 word EIS statement.

With only one week to go in the time allocation, the NSW Planning Department finally wrote to several residents telling them that no extension would be granted.

This only leaves groups and residents until November 2 to submit their objections.

Ashfield Council has already  published its submission, which includes reports from independent consultants who have pointed to hundreds of inadequacies in the traffic, air quality and other sections of  the WestConnex EIS report.

City of Sydney and Leichhardt Councils’ submissions are also expected to reject the project.

Engineering giant AECOM was paid millions to do the EIS, although it has strong commercial interests in the project and recently settled a damages case resulting from false traffic predictions for the Clem7 tunnel in Brisbane for more than $250 million.

National Trust (NSW) has lodged a submission which is scathing about WestConnex’s plan to demolish scores of heritage homes in the internationally recognised Haberfield Conservation Area.

The Trust claims that such destruction should not be allowed and that the $15.5 billion cost of the project  should be spent on other projects, including public transport.

Greens Balmain MP Jamie Parker and Newtown MP Jenny Leong have already collected hundreds of submissions, and Labor Summer Hill MP Jo Haylen organised a EIS workshop which resulted in more than 150 critical submissions.

An EIS writing pub night has even been organised at the Newtown Social Club in Newtown on Wednesday evening.

Information about how to make a submission can be found on the People’s EIS website.