The Suburban Rail Loop Stage One train stabling will need to be located somewhere in the Heatherton/Dingley/Clarinda area because all the other areas on the proposed rail alignment are too built up. We believe the train stabling should be located on a site that minimises impacts to the whole community. The current government proposed stabling yard site maximises impacts for everyone – residents, businesses, the golf club, and the wider community with the loss of sporting facilities and the complete chain of parks. The alternative site we are proposing we still impact surrounding area, but there are minimal impacts in comparison.
The alternative site we are proposing is the area bounded by Dingley Bypass (north), Boundary Road (west), Mordialloc Freeway (east), and Old Dandenong Rd (south). Residents live much further away, and there are already noise and visual buffers planned such as the Mordialloc freeway. The land should also be easier for the Suburban Rail Loop to use because it wouldn’t need all the special preparation techniques the Delta site does (e.g. compacting land, relocating the pond, relocating utilities etc.). There might even be a possibility to build a large enclosure for the train stabling on this alternative site, like was done for the Craigieburn train stabling.
The alternative site is:
- Similar size to the Delta site
- Much further from residential homes
- Located in an area where noise would already be buffered for residential areas by sound barriers on the Mordialloc freeway
- Not included in the Chain of Parks
- Less impacted by previous landfill issues
- Still close to the proposed rail alignment
- Near proposed sites for development of the Hawthorn Football Club and Water Park that would further buffer noise for residents, as well as obscure the view of the train stabling from residential housing in the distance. Those developments would also not be as sensitive to noise as residential homes.
- Already designed with a walking track and bike path on the east side of the Mordialloc Freeway so no changes will be needed there, and with new mature large trees planted on the western side to provide buffering to the train stabling yard.
The alternative site also has advantages over the Delta site as it does not require:
- Ground compaction work
- Parkland buffering
- Emptying of a significant body of water (also requiring replacement due to flood mitigation)
- A Cultural Heritage Management Plan (CHMP) – hopefully.
The only potential disadvantage of this site (excluding acquisitions) is that some extra tunnelling may be required to reach the train stabling from the rail alignment. However, the reduction in work required to prepare to site for use should offset the additional tunnelling work.
We believe the state government need to move the train stabling yard to this more appropriate site that minimises impacts on the community, and enables the government to keep their Chain of Parks promises.
Last updated: 24th January 2021