Thursday, 19 October 2023

 Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (17:22): (395) My adjournment is for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, and the request I have is around the level crossing removal program and a community reference group, which is something that has been put forward for many of the current removals of level crossings across the state. However, the one in Beaconsfield does not have that same opportunity, and the community want to know why they are not being consulted when such big changes are being made, particularly around some of the parks that have been taken and some of the areas that have been impacted. So the action for this is to form a community reference group for the Beaconsfield community to ensure that they can have their say in what is going on.

To put it on record so they cannot use the normal political response we get: no, I do not support this level crossing removal in Beaconsfield. You can put that in your letter – it is already on my social media now – to say ‘I do not support it’. The reasons I do not support it are that it is not needed, it is costing a lot of money, it is destroying the environment, it will make no difference, the traffic counts were all wrong, the government will not release the details, there are not enough facts on this, the community has been impacted without being consulted and it is going to have zero impact on safety.

Now we have got that part out of the way, they can put all that in the political response if they want, but until they have this community engagement, these people in the communities around here deserve to have a say in what is going on. It is not just about the tree or the old house, it is about people that live within that area. It is about the shops and the impact on those shops down there. It is the local school, which is going to have the impact on it, and the student movements to and from school. It is the intersections in the area that are going to make a big difference and impact on some of those small businesses on those corners. So I ask for that action to be completed as soon as possible.