OUR MISSION PAGE 2

Text Box: THEY TOOK ALL THE TREES AND PUT THEM IN A TREE MUSEUM And they charged all the people A dollar and a half just to see 'em. (Joni Mitchell) Some time this month (November 2008) or early next month (December 2008) the Victorian Government will decide whether or not to proceed with the construction of what has been referred to in the media as the East West "Tunnel". The comments made in this flyer are based on an interpretation of what is disclosed by the East West Link Needs Assessment (EWLNA) often referred to as the Eddington Report. What you probably don't know about the plans for a Tunnel from the City Link exit at the end of the Tullamarine Freeway which will run through Royal Park and all the way to the Eastern Freeway in Collingwood, is that a huge part of the "Tunnel" will not be a Tunnel at all but an open cut mine or quarry much like the pictures in this flyer (below). We all think of a Tunnel as being under the ground. A Cut and Cover Tunnel, which is planned for Royal Park, involves firstly the digging of a huge ditch, then the construction of the tunnel following which the ditch and tunnel are covered (filled in). That of course means that Parkland through which it is to be built will be totally destroyed and there will be traffic havoc, noise and pollution for 5 to 10 years while the Tunnel is being constructed. If the Parkland is restored after completion of the Tunnel it will take decades to regrow the trees and other vegetation which will have been destroyed. The native fauna will not be so lucky as to regrow and will perish with the tunnel. Many homes will be compulsorily acquired (purchased by the government whether you like it or not and for far less than their real value) and those residents who do not have their homes compulsorily acquired can confidently expect that the value of their homes will drastically fall without compensation being paid. Their lifestyle will be severely downgraded while construction takes place and for many years if not decades thereafter. According to submissions lodged opposing the Tunnel, “open parkland over the Moonee Ponds Creek and Travancore Park and sports fields such as Essendon Hockey Field will be ripped up and their community facilities removed. Major parks - Royal Park and Holland Park - will be destroyed as they will be turned into major tunnel construction “staging” sites for 5 to 10 years. The Royal Park wetlands, developed with a $5 million grant from the State Government plus its water storage facility under the adjacent Ross Straw Field, will be obliterated as they are in the path of the Road Tunnel.” A 12-storey vent stack will be built near the entrance/exit of the Road Tunnel on the Travancore side of City Link with vent stacks every 3 km thus increasing air and noise pollution for residents. The Road Tunnel is, in reality, a city by pass for trucks from the Port of Melbourne. For the convenience of industry the interests assets and life styles of thousands of residents will be sacrificed and homes will be taken from residents or seriously devalued with inadequate or worse still, no compensation. To add insult to injury the proposal to construct the Tunnel by using a cut and cover method of construction as opposed to traditional underground tunneling is to save the government money at the expense and inconvenience of local residents.

Can we Stop them? Yes We Can!!