Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY - Wednesday, 25 August 2004] p5622b-5627a Mr Mike Board

METROPOLITAN REGION SCHEME () BILL 2004 Second Reading MR M.F. BOARD (Murdoch) [4.51 pm]: I move - That the Bill be now read a second time. Today I stand before the House on a matter of overwhelming urgency and public concern; that is, the deletion of the controlled access highway reservation, known as the Fremantle eastern bypass, from the metropolitan region scheme. This transport corridor has proved to be one of the most contentious, studied and debated issues in Western Australia’s planning history. It is, without a doubt, the single largest issue that has come before our community, and, more specifically, the numerous communities that reside south of the river. Despite the widespread community support for the retention of the Fremantle eastern bypass, the Labor Government has failed to govern in the interests of the Western Australian people, but has acted upon its unilateral decision to delete this primary regional road reservation from the metropolitan region scheme. This government action threatens not only the amenities and the environment of these communities, but also the right of the people there to live in a peaceful and safe locality. The purpose of this Bill is twofold. As previously stated, there is a pressing need for all members of Parliament to be further informed on the serious implications that both the deletion of the Fremantle eastern bypass and the non-completion of stage 8 represent for the industries dependent upon sustainable access to the Fremantle port, for daily commuters on the surrounding and major route roads, as well as for the various communities south of the river that are directly impacted by the absence of this vital transport link. More importantly, this Bill is about upholding the integrity of our representative democracy. The people’s choice on this issue has been well known for some time. There is overwhelming community support for the retention of the Fremantle eastern bypass as an integral part of Western Australia’s transport system. Accordingly, this is a fundamental attempt to ensure that the culmination of more than 30 years of sustainable planning, as well as continued public consultation, is rightfully acknowledged and enacted by this Parliament. Throughout this speech I will make frequent references to the need for the completion of Roe Highway stage 8. Both roads are essential for the achievement of a sustainable transport network serving both the industry and the communities of the south west metropolitan region. As the Hearings Committee of the Western Australian Planning Commission stated, the FEB should not be looked at in isolation from Roe Highway stage 8. The Government’s recent amendment No 1055/33 has modified the MRS so as to delete this bypass reservation between High Street, Fremantle and Healy Road, Hamilton Hill, thereby transferring the land to an urban zone classification. Consequently, this has put Roe Highway stage 8 as the strategic link between the Fremantle port and Roe Highway without prospect. Currently, it is estimated that the port of Fremantle manages about 350 000 containers each year. It is projected that this figure will increase to between 800 000 and 900 000 containers per annum by 2014. Without the road reservation put aside for the future construction of the FEB, this traffic will be forced to travel through stand-in routes. As the incumbent Minister for Planning and Infrastructure should acknowledge, the only immediate and therefore probable alternative for these escalating traffic flows is to overrun onto the already incapacitated suburban streets surrounding the suburbs throughout the south metropolitan region. The impact of such a predicament has understandably outraged local governments, businesses, community groups and services, as well as concerned residential communities and individual commuters. This will no doubt impact upon the local schools, hospitals, aged care facilities and all residential developments. Prior to the inclusion of the Fremantle eastern bypass reservation in 1973, the predicted growth and development of Perth centred upon the Stephenson plan. This plan advised of the implementation of a ring-road network to be built around the outside of the Perth metropolitan region so as to cater for the increases in traffic movement, as well as the anticipated population growth and community developments. This proposed road network included not only Reid and Tonkin Highways, but also Roe Highway, which would connect to the Fremantle eastern bypass and, subsequently, the Stirling Bridge, which would link to West Coast Highway. The intended function of the FEB was to provide the primary district road access to the Fremantle port and make a connection between the northern and southern suburbs across the river. The Stirling Bridge was built in accordance with this strategic premise. Since the initial stages of the Labor Party’s campaign against the retention of the FEB reserve, the party has persistently ignored the outcomes of both planning research and community consultations on the future of this bypass. In 1992, through the enactment of a minor provision by the Lawrence State Government, Labor succeeded in deleting the FEB from the metropolitan region scheme. That was despite a 1991 joint study commissioned by the roads reserve review, which advised the State Government that the retention of the FEB

[1] Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY - Wednesday, 25 August 2004] p5622b-5627a Mr Mike Board link was recommended on the basis of its strategic importance within the region and its link to the Stirling Bridge and the south west corridor. During this time, the Western Australian planning body strongly recommended to the State Government that it retain the bypass reserves, as did Main Roads and the Fremantle Port Authority. The councils of the Cities of Melville, Cockburn and Rockingham and of the Town of Kwinana also lent their strong support in favour of retaining the FEB. Further independent consultations and the evaluation of more than 1 000 submissions also found that it would be premature of the State Government to delete this controlled access highway at that time. During the 1993 election year, the Liberal Party made the commitment to reinstate the bypass as a matter of public policy, and did so through the introduction of a Bill to amend the metropolitan region scheme. In 1994, the Liberal Party also included the bypass reservation within the 1994 Fremantle regional strategy plan. Ten years on, the predominance of commissioned research, professional recommendations, local council positions and public opinion on this transport corridor has scarcely changed; yet we find ourselves with the very same discord - a discord between what the Labor Party wants and what the community needs. The premature and imprudent nature of the Government’s actions clearly reflected a decision based upon political motivations rather than any genuine attempt to provide Western Australians with a sustainable transport future. Given the potential impact that this Government’s proposal would have on the safety, lifestyle and property values of thousands of people in the southern metropolitan region, there was an overwhelming response by the wider community on this issue. The Western Australian Planning Commission received a total of 9 736 public submissions. This figure did not include the further 182 submissions that were received after the due date. Of this total, 8 290 submissions, or more than 85 per cent of the people, unequivocally opposed the deletion of the FEB, while only 14 per cent of the public submissions were in favour of the Government’s proposed deletion of the bypass. Although the Fremantle City Council lent its support to the amendment to delete the bypass, 89 per cent of the 877 public submissions received by the council fervently expressed the local community’s outrage at both council support for the deletion and the Government’s intention to press on regardless of the evident consequences to be faced throughout the Fremantle community. As I have previously put on record, both the City of Melville and the City of Canning have moved resolutions in strong support of retaining the Fremantle eastern bypass and the completion of Roe Highway stage 8. The longstanding opposition within the City of Melville against the deletion of this transport corridor is a reflection of both genuine concern and commonsense by the council. Without the FEB and with the non-completion of Roe Highway stage 8, both freight and general traffic will have no choice but to make disproportionate use of , High Street, South Street, Carrington Street and Hampton Road. Although the State Government has proposed its “six-step solution”, it has been widely recognised that none of the proposals has yet to be proved as adequate alternatives to the FEB. The City of Canning also fervently objects to the deletion of the FEB based on the lack of viable alternatives and the potential safety hazards resulting from an increase in traffic movements of heavy vehicles such as trucks and semitrailers down these suburban streets and throughout the residential communities. Concerns from regional Western Australia also were put forward to the commission. Given the economic importance of efficient accessibility to the port of Fremantle, both the City of Albany and the Shire of Quairading recommended in favour of retaining the FEB reservations until such time as a viable alternative could be implemented. The Fremantle eastern bypass was to act as a north-south coastal transport corridor for regional traffic movements generated by the Fremantle port and industrial areas in the south west corridor. The Government has clearly demonstrated the rhetorical nature of its community consultation process. The process so far has involved three simple steps: the minister has decided what is to be done, announced the decision and then aggressively defended the decision from any community inquiry or protest on this vital issue. Local properties and businesses fronting key alternate routes such as South Street and Leach Highway also stand to lose significantly with the prospect of having to be sold off and demolished to allow for the upgrade of these roads to possible freeway status. The Melville-Cockburn Chamber of Commerce is vehemently opposed to the deletion of the road reserve. The strategic development in the size and location of many of the southern suburbs potentially at risk, such as Canning Vale, Jandakot, South Lake, Yangebup and Murdoch, to name but a few, have been planned around the current road infrastructures of South Street, Leach Highway, and the completion of Roe Highway, which was intended to meet the FEB. As I will highlight in detail further on in my speech, the proposed upgrades to these roads will not adequately address the long-term transport needs of the south metropolitan region. As the Western Australian Planning Commission report acknowledges, various government agencies, in particular the Western Australia Police Service, Transperth and the Department of Industry and Resources, also submitted their objections to the proposed deletion of this vital transport corridor. Their concerns are based on the foreseeable impact on road safety, traffic management and the economic sustainability of the export industry, which is highly dependent on accessibility to the Fremantle port.

[2] Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY - Wednesday, 25 August 2004] p5622b-5627a Mr Mike Board

The incumbent minister, along with the member for Riverton, has repeatedly attacked any community attempt to challenge the questionable integrity of the planning process adopted by the current State Government. I take this opportunity to clarify once again that community action groups, such as the Save Our Suburbs committee, which opposes the deletion, have nothing to do with playing party politics. On the contrary, although the SOS committee has been repeatedly labelled as a Liberal Party political front established to oppose the State Government, residential and local business representatives who are deeply concerned about their future have overwhelmingly supported this committee. More specifically, the committee arose out of an overwhelming consensus of outrage at the lack of information and consultation on the serious implications of the Government’s proposal to delete the FEB and its subsequent non-completion of Roe Highway stage 8. Although I previously chaired this community-based group, it represents a united voice of different political persuasions that wanted to voice its objections to the current point of action by the State Government. Alongside widespread community disregard, the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure has also circumvented the recommendations of both the transport committee and the Hearings Committee, commissioned under her direction, which consciously nominated in favour of reserving this transport corridor. The Hearings Committee clearly acknowledged that retaining the reservations for the FEB and Roe Highway stage 8 would ultimately keep options open. It indicated that the effectiveness of the preferred alternatives and the six-step solution had not yet been proved. The Hearings Committee recommended that metropolitan region scheme amendment No 1055/33 should not proceed at the current time or in its current form. The transport committee also reiterated these findings by stating that the FEB-Roe Highway option is a better traffic and road safety solution than any of the current alternatives. There should be no doubt in the minds of members on either side of the House that the FEB represents a strategically important transport corridor, which clearly has been acknowledged through its original inclusion in the metropolitan region scheme more than 30 years ago. Whether or not members are inclined to question the underlying motives of the local councils, community groups and businesses, it is much harder to contest statistical figures and data. As the incumbent minister is also well aware, over the past 10 years there have been substantial increases in traffic crashes on both South Street and Leach Highway. There has been an increase of almost 300 crashes a year along Leach Highway during this time. Many of these recorded incidents have involved more than one vehicle. Over this 10-year period, a total of 15 928 vehicles were involved in such accidents. The precipitating increases in traffic accidents along these suburban streets are inevitable when one logically considers the rapidly developing housing areas throughout the southern suburbs, as well as the projected increases in freight and container movements. Figures commissioned by Main Roads Western Australia as early as 1997 indicate that the proliferation of traffic accidents would be reduced dramatically on the major routes through Fremantle once the bypass was in place. More specifically, this document stated that the bypass was expected to reduce the rate of accidents on various local Fremantle roads such as Hampton Road by up to 50 per cent, with a potential saving of more than $10 million in reduced vehicle accident costs for the wider community. It has been forecast that by 2021 the Fremantle eastern bypass will carry traffic flows of more than 30 000 vehicles a day, with the majority of this traffic movement being shifted away from residential streets such as Stock Road, Hampton Road and Carrington Street. Evidentiary research has already shown that there is a clear and positive relationship between the number of vehicles on a given road and the increased risk of accidents. The traffic flows on Leach Highway and South Street are expected to treble over the next 15 years. Presently, the traffic congestion on Leach Highway is estimated to be between 40 000 and 60 000 vehicles a day, and on South Street, between 30 000 and 50 000 vehicles on any given day. The implication of deleting the FEB and not completing Roe Highway stage 8 is that traffic congestion will increase dramatically in the next couple of years. There has already been a significant increase in traffic flows on South Street since the completion of Roe Highway stage 6. The Fremantle eastern bypass traffic impact study of 1992 clearly identified that existing heavy goods vehicle traffic comprised between six per cent and seven per cent of all traffic movements to and from the major roads in the Fremantle area. This study also predicted that without the bypass in place, this percentile would more than double within the next 30 years. That is only 18 years away. In addition, this report predicted that Carrington Street north of Winterfold Road would experience a 60 per cent increase in heavy vehicle traffic movement - that is, more than 800 extra trucks and semitrailers a day - while the estimated 400 trucks commuting daily on Hampton Road is estimated to double by 2021. Interestingly, this study found that an estimated 66 per cent of the trucks currently using Hampton Road could switch to the bypass if the FEB were put in place. Without the bypass, the volumes of traffic on the major residential routes in question are expected to multiply as follows: an extra 14 000 vehicles a day on Stock Road located south of Leach Highway; more than 10 000 vehicles through Carrington Street; 25 000 more vehicles on High Street via west of Carrington Street; and an increase of more than 11 000 more vehicles up and down Cockburn Road. These figures were dependent upon no increase in the

[3] Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY - Wednesday, 25 August 2004] p5622b-5627a Mr Mike Board present percentage growth rate of traffic movements. However, given the growth and expansion of the export and import industries at the Fremantle port, these figures are likely to be much greater. Today they are considered to be quite conservative. Although the minister’s freight-on-rail alternative is commendable on its own, it should not be equated to or seen as the alternative to the Fremantle eastern bypass. Put differently, the promotion of greater transportation on freight should not equate with the deletion of the bypass. Currently it is estimated that trains transport only 3.2 per cent of containers. This marginal figure alone is indicative that the proposed rail transportation will not be able to make the provisions necessary to sustain the current and future transport needs of both industry and the wider community. Even the minister’s projected 30 per cent increase target will not be enough. In 2003, an estimated 316 000 containers were transported, of which 294 000, or around 96 per cent, were transported by road. Provided that this increase is achieved, the target for containers would not be 316 000 containers, but a maximum of 285 000 containers of an estimated total 950 000 container transportation movements. In other words, even if the minister achieves her 30 per cent target, the reality is that there will be more than a doubling of container movements on our roads. Increasing the efficiency and safety of the commercial freight transit to and from Fremantle’s port would rely heavily on the cooperation of the private sector for the provision of inland container terminals, as well as the promotion of the use of rail as the alternative to road transportation serving the Fremantle port. Therefore, despite these projected targets, it is evident that there are no guarantees as to whether this will be achieved. The impact that this will have on the residential communities of Spearwood, Yangebup, Port Catherine, South Beach Urban Village, the west end of Fremantle and the Victoria Quay redevelopment have yet to be adequately explored by the State Government. Furthermore, the north quay rail loop proposal may potentially assist in the delivery of some rail freight movements. However, the proposal to develop an integrated master plan for the Kewdale-Hazelmere region is seriously flawed. This proposition will ultimately shift the containers to Kewdale as part of a new intermodal facilities initiative. That is simply shifting a road problem from one suburb to another. Subsequently, the deletion of the bypass will merely shift the impact of port-bound traffic to other streets and suburbs. As a community we all have a vested interest and moral responsibility to ensure that both our natural and human environments are preserved, along with the realisation of economic growth and community development projects. The importance of the environmental impact of any planning and infrastructure project is not at the heart of the issue before members today. The debate surrounding the deletion of the FEB is more about the political manoeuvring of the vital issues. Major environmental concerns that are rightfully acknowledged by the Liberal Party regarding the Fremantle eastern bypass make specific reference to the possible impact that the completion of Roe Highway stage 8 will have on the . Although reinstating the FEB would be coupled with extensive community consultation on minimising any possible effects, I remind the Government that Leach Highway also crosses through the northern end of the same wetlands. In particular, it crosses the Booragoon and Piney Lakes, as well as the Yagan Reserve, which is in close proximity to the Canning River. If the proposed freeway upgrades to both South Street and Leach Highway are implemented, both these roads may threaten the Piney Lakes reserve. The important environmental consideration of Clontarf Hill has also been raised in opposition to the reinstatement and implementation of the FEB. However, as the previous environmental assessments conducted have clearly stated, a number of options are available to the Government to minimise any possible disturbance, including the restriction of road width and continued rehabilitation and collaborative community maintenance. The Government’s belief that the FEB and completion of this stage of the Roe Highway are environmentally unsound is dubious at best. The Fremantle eastern bypass would significantly reduce visual impact and vehicle emissions in Fremantle and surrounding areas and it would also reduce existing and future traffic noise, vibration and congestion across the various suburban roads. As extensive research has already proven, congested and slow-moving traffic results in the increased production of very harmful emissions, such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen. In order to reduce the release of such pollutants, both traffic congestion and the enforced speed would need to be optimised and maintained. With the introduction of a transport corridor such as the FEB, the rate of emissions and quality of air in the south metropolitan region could drastically improve. This is a finding, which was established as early as 1997, within the Main Roads summary report on the Fremantle eastern bypass. Given that the bypass would divert heavy vehicle traffic away from suburban routes, such as Hampton Road, this would increase the efficiency of operating and the movement of vehicles and, therefore, improve the levels of truck and car emissions. In fact, this study identified that vehicle emissions could be reduced by more than one third of the projected levels with the inclusion of the FEB as the direct link for this traffic movement to and from the Fremantle port. That brings me to the critical issue of hazardous wastes and, more specifically, the safe transportation of such materials in and throughout the south metropolitan region. Given the significantly fewer traffic lights and wider

[4] Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY - Wednesday, 25 August 2004] p5622b-5627a Mr Mike Board buffering, the inclusion of the FEB and completion of Roe Highway stage 8 would evidently provide a safer route for the transportation of chemicals than any proposed upgrades of Leach Highway or South Street. As it stands, the yearly transportation of over 20 000 tonnes of hazardous chemicals and wastes such as sodium cyanide will be taken to the Fremantle port via residential roads, such as Stock Road, High Street and . The possibility of the devastating impact of such chemicals spilling over in close proximity to residential communities is putting thousands of people at serious risk. The Perth Metropolitan Freight Transport Strategy of 2000 proposed not only the continuation of stages 7 and 8 of Roe Highway, but also the construction of the Fremantle eastern bypass. The report stated that the bypass was a vital and necessary link to meet the growth in road transport, particularly freight transport, in the Perth metropolitan region. This report encompassed contributions from notable organisations and companies, all of which strongly recommended the completion of Roe Highway, including stage 8, and the construction of the Fremantle eastern bypass. Those organisations included the Fremantle Port Authority; Transport WA; Main Roads WA; the Department of Transport and Regional Services; Westrail; Sinclair Knight Mertz Pty Ltd; Robertson Consulting; Halphern Glick and Maunsell Pty Ltd; and the Western Australian Planning Commission. Although I have already touched on the proposed alternatives to the FEB being explored by the State Government, I reiterate my previous arguments that both the preceding and subsequent alternatives put forward by the minister and her Government fall seriously short of adequately addressing the long-term transport needs of the south metropolitan region, or the considerable negative impacts that this deletion will entail on the residing communities. Without the FEB and Roe Highway stage 8, most east-west and southbound traffic will be restricted to using Leach Highway, South Street, and Stock Road. Transport aside, there are serious safety and environmental considerations, which have not been factored into this Government’s planning scheme. The proposed upgrading of Leach Highway, South Street and Stock Road would do little to solve the increasing traffic flows or reduce the number of freight vehicles using them. In upgrading both South Street and Leach Highway to freeway status, the workings of this proposal would require overpasses and would therefore provide restricted access. This would subsequently change and inhibit access from suburbs, shopping centres and schools as well as other community features. Ultimately, the Fremantle eastern bypass is required as a transport corridor into the future. The reservation must be reinstated and remain until such time as the Fremantle eastern bypass is implemented and completed. Perth’s population is expected to expand to over two million people by 2030, and that figure will be accompanied by a considerable growth of the Fremantle inner harbour freight task. The Fremantle eastern bypass has become a longstanding and contentious issue, particularly amongst the major political parties. That being said, the onus is on the Government to embody the responsible and representative political traditions that we as a community have come to expect of our local, State and federal Governments. I will take this opportunity to reiterate my previous comments that the Western Australian Planning Commission has lost an enormous amount of credibility because of its decision to walk away from the community and its own working committees’ recommendations. The overturning of its 1992 decision has proven to be a backward step for the transport industry in WA. Ultimately, this Bill brings to realisation the need of our State Government to reassess the motivations underlying this current decision. The scrapping of the Fremantle eastern bypass clearly shows this State Government’s intent to inhibit the prospect of any future Government of building a safe and modern freight corridor to and from the Fremantle harbour. Planning is exactly that - preparing for the future. Within this present context, the minister and her Government have overlooked the community’s transport needs and the right of its people to live in a pleasant and safe environment. This transport corridor was to be the final link in a modern freight network. In my 12 years in Parliament, this would be the single most important issue, an issue that, if not addressed, will have disastrous ramifications for not only people in my electorate but for many thousands of people in the Canning and Fremantle area. The Fremantle eastern bypass has been a major part of the State’s transport strategy for more than 30 years. People have known about it and the region has planned its infrastructure with the future road networks in mind, and the bypass is a crucial link to the port of Fremantle and areas south. The Roe Highway link-up to the eastern bypass is the final connection to the port of Fremantle and beyond. Without it, there is no rational solution to traffic travelling west and south. Had there been a referendum, I am more than confident that the community support for the Fremantle eastern bypass would have reflected or bettered the public submissions already tabled within Parliament. The deletion of the Fremantle eastern bypass from the Western Australian metropolitan scheme is both an inconceivable and a dangerous strategy that will no doubt prove costly for us all. I urge members to support the reinstatement of this road reserve for the future of all Western Australians. I commend the Bill to the House.

[5] Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY - Wednesday, 25 August 2004] p5622b-5627a Mr Mike Board

Debate adjourned, on motion by Mr J.L. Bradshaw.

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