Residents in Melbourne’s inner west are stuck with ugly overhead power lines after a developer reversal on a promise to bury the lines following the completion of the West Gate Tunnel.
Twenty-eight large power poles were built on land near the border of South Kingsville and Spotswood in 2019, about 200 metres from the West Gate Tunnel tollway, on the condition that they would be temporary.
Installed by construction giants CPB Contractors and John Holland – which built the tunnel through a joint venture – the high-voltage power lines begin on private land in South Kingsville, run along Watson Street, cross the train tracks and finish in The Avenue Reserve, Spotswood.
Late this year, CPB and John Holland advised Hobsons Bay Council that removing the poles was no longer feasible owing to reasons including limited land space, disruptions to services and potential further road closures.
The companies would have realised that when the project started. but they would have progressed probably with the blessing of the Victorian Government. This project should never have been undertaken. It was ruined inner west communities, detracted from the Port Rail Shuttle Programme, and created a tollway that prople will avoid using.
Watson Street resident Julie Richards said she and other residents had been on the front line of West Gate Tunnel constructions for years, and that the broken promise was just another source of disappointment.
“There were no power lines at all when I moved in … they just turned up one day,” Richards said.
The project has a litany of failures starting with the business case and traffic modelling being without foundation, the removal of public land access, the disastrous location of the vent stacks in the west without any filters for the toxic fumes, the removal of much needed rail yard space around the busy port area in Melbourne, and elevation of roads that are a significant blight on the city.
