Ms THEOPHANOUS (Northcote): My adjournment is for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, and the action that I seek is that the minister assures my community that open space will be created between Oakover Road and Bell Street as part of the removal of four level crossings in Preston.
Minister, as you know, this project originally began in 2014 with the announcement of the Bell crossing removal as part of the commitment to remove 50 level crossings by 2022. With the success of the first tranche of projects and the program ahead of schedule, locals were delighted by the news in 2018 that Bell Street would be joined by Oakover Road, Murray Road and Cramer Street as part of the Premier’s announcement that a further 25 crossings would be removed by 2025.
The Preston project will be a game changer for our community, lifting the rail, improving safety and connectivity, building modern accessible stations at Bell and Preston and delivering precious open space. Indeed a big part of the excitement of this project are the opportunities for open space that will be created with the raising of the rail, and we have seen the successes of other level crossing removals, including along the Caulfield-Dandenong line. Over many years the City of Darebin has approved the densification of our local suburbs with many brownfield developments, yet this increase in density has not been matched by council with an increase of open space. The incredible piece of infrastructure that will be created over these four crossings will give something back to this community. It will not be the silver bullet, but it will mean an extraordinary transformation for Preston.
Recently I was very pleased to be able to inform locals that the loud and dusty Metro depot near Bell station will be removed as part of the project. And Minister, I want to thank your office for working with me to deliver that outcome for my community. I was also pleased to attend the first meeting of the Preston Open Space Advisory Panel. The panel has been established by the Level Crossing Removal Project so local residents and stakeholders can shape the open spaces made possible by this project.
Since 2014 we have asked this community to be patient, because we know the pay-off will be worth it, but that also means we need to give them some clarity. The maps and diagrams provided to the community so far have been at the highest level and have not given a true indication of what will be possible under and around the rail corridor. Understandably, essential elements of the station precinct and the new amenities and access points to be built must form the backbone of any design of this area. Residents do appreciate that big, bold projects like this are complex and require an intense amount of investigation, planning and engineering to deliver, but residents would greatly benefit from being provided with some more detailed mapping and diagrams, particularly relating to the area between Bell Street and Oakover Road to be assured that open space is part of the plan for this area and will deliver a much-needed improvement.
