It’s disappointing that our elected members continue their juvenile spats in Parliament (‘‘F6 debate takes toll’’, Leader, October 31) regurgitating the rehearsed PR spin that overstates the benefits of this massive toll road agenda, whilst hiding the significant disbenefits from us.
Those that are actually in control, that is, the faceless men who are doing secret squirrel deals with the likes of Transurban, are shaping the way we move through our suburbs and city.
Nary an actual transport expert in sight or a thought for public benefit.
Liberal MP’s Mark Speakman, Eleni Petinos and Lee Evans can well assure us that the ‘‘F6 will not impact the Royal National Park in any way …. that’s on the table at this time’’.
Those that have watched the scandal plagued WestConnex unfold know that the F6 Stages will be released to the public in phases by stealth, well after lucrative contracts are signed behind closed doors.
Sixty hectares of the heritage listed Royal may well follow the same fate as the demolished heritage listed houses at Haberfield.
Leaked documents reveal that the entire F6 route has been largely mapped out.
The spin merchants warned in this document to take care with the ‘‘community management’’ regarding the National Park or the alternative of yet another 460 family homes lost.
Their plan will probably follow the predictable pattern — the F6 Stage 1 will be pushed through, will fill up quickly therefore ‘‘justifying’’ further stages.
All before properly addressing augmentation of public transport in a way that takes enough cars off the roads making the F6 an expensive waste of public funds.
We know that Transurban are aggressive negotiators. Leaked documents about their recent acquisition of 51 per cent of WestConnex reveal Transurban are set to reap tens of millions in compensation if the F6 Stage 1 is not built.
Their purchase calculations need F6 traffic feeding into WestConnex.
It’s reasonable to expect even more cosy secret deals, like ‘‘no compete’’ clauses.
Such clauses stymie critical rail improvements, entrenching car dependency until 2060 when their lucrative toll revenue stream contract expires.
Kids just entering the workforce now will be planning their retirement by then!
I’m not sure how Labor’s MP Steve Kamper election promise of ‘‘prioritising the South Coast and T4 line upgrades’’ could be delivered with such no compete clauses in place.
Do Labor intend to stand with the community by ripping up the F6 contracts and establishing a Royal Commission into the whole sorry mess that is WestConnex?
Contemporary global cities worldwide build their transport infrastructure to reduce car use, and, rather than actively encouraging more traffic like this government, are in the process of ripping down their motorways.
There was never a social license to start such a huge agenda of toll road building in Sydney.
The expensive tolls, local roads hammered by rat runners, the proponent ignoring resident complaints of failed mitigation dealing with sleep deprivation. Unruly truck drivers, the loss of parks.
The ‘‘cost savings’’ by not filtering the very long tunnels that will be dangerous to our health, inside and outside of the tunnels. Homeowners left broken, bullied into accepting significantly less than market value for their property.
The EIS for the F6 Stage 1 was released last week. There will be a community run meeting planned in early December to help residents prepare their submissions.
You can have your say on what sort of city we should be shaping and how we move around. Are we going to deal with the challenges of our time with fair and sustainable solutions? Or will we remain silent and allow this Government to hand over the cash to contractors and remain an outdated car- centric city?
Kathryn Calman, WestConnex Action Group
