Thursday, 23 June 2022

Thornhill Park transport infrastructure

Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (12:05): My question is to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure in the other place. When will this government construct an interchange on the Western Freeway to give Thornhill Park residents access to the freeway? There are not any arterial roads in or out of Thornhill Park, only potholed single-lane dirt tracks. The Western Freeway carries thousands of cars each day, mostly people driving between Ballarat, Bacchus Marsh and Melton and the city. To go anywhere, even to just get a bottle of milk at the nearest shop, involves merging onto a busy freeway at 110 kilometres an hour. There is no overpass to reach the city-bound lanes on the other side, so drivers must first head a couple of kilometres west to exit in Melton. They drive back past where they came from.

Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Resources) (12:06): I thank Dr Cumming for her question and her interest in transport infrastructure in the western suburbs, and I will seek a written response from Minister Allan in accordance with our standing orders.

Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (12:06): Thank you, Minister. I look forward to the other minister’s response. When will this government build a railway station at Thornhill Park? About 73 per cent of people with a job who live in the Melton City Council area must travel outside the municipality for work, making proper roads and trains essential. Residents describe living in Thornhill Park as living in an island. These residents bought properties believing that the interchange and a railway station would be built. Five years later they are still advocating for transport infrastructure. This government has accepted tens of millions of dollars in contributions from the developer, yet these items—an interchange and a railway station—have not been delivered in the time frame that the community needs them. The community needs them now.

Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Resources) (12:07): I thank Dr Cumming for her supplementary question, and I will seek some advice and a response from Minister Allan.