I - SOCIAL Environment Effects Statement Technical Report I Social North East Link Project North East Link Environment Effects Statement Technical report I - Social Prepared for North East Link April 2019 Limitations – This publication is prepared to inform the public about the North East Link. This publication may be of assistance to you but the North East Link Project (a division of the Major Transport Infrastructure Authority) and its employees, contractors or consultants (including the issuer of this report) do not guarantee that the publication is without any defect, error or omission of any kind or is appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. GHD | Report for North East Link Project – North East Link Environment Effects Statement, 3135006 | i Table of contents 1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Purpose of this report........................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Why understanding social impact is important .................................................................... 1 2. EES scoping requirements............................................................................................................. 2 2.1 EES evaluation objectives ................................................................................................... 2 2.2 EES scoping requirements .................................................................................................. 2 2.3 Linkages to other reports ..................................................................................................... 4 3. Project description .......................................................................................................................... 5 3.1 Overview .............................................................................................................................. 5 3.2 Construction ......................................................................................................................... 6 3.3 Operation ............................................................................................................................. 7 3.4 Activities and design considerations relevant to social impact assessment ........................ 7 4. Legislation ...................................................................................................................................... 8 4.1 Policy.................................................................................................................................. 10 4.2 Social impact assessment guidelines and standards ........................................................ 13 5. Method ......................................................................................................................................... 14 5.1 Overview of method ........................................................................................................... 14 5.2 Study area .......................................................................................................................... 15 5.3 Existing conditions ............................................................................................................. 17 5.4 Stakeholder consultation undertaken for the social impact assessment ........................... 20 5.5 Risk assessment ................................................................................................................ 21 5.6 Impact description and assessment .................................................................................. 24 5.7 Rationale ............................................................................................................................ 27 5.8 Limitations and assumptions ............................................................................................. 27 5.9 Stakeholder engagement ................................................................................................... 27 5.10 Community feedback ......................................................................................................... 29 6. Existing conditions ....................................................................................................................... 32 6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 32 6.2 Overview of the region ....................................................................................................... 32 6.3 Nillumbik local government area ........................................................................................ 35 6.4 Banyule local government area ......................................................................................... 48 6.5 Manningham local government area ................................................................................. 66 6.6 Boroondara local government area ................................................................................... 82 6.7 Whitehorse local government area .................................................................................... 96 6.8 Yarra Local Government Area ......................................................................................... 109 6.9 Whittlesea local government area ................................................................................... 122 7. Risk assessment ........................................................................................................................ 135 8. Impact assessment – social regional study area ....................................................................... 137 GHD | Report for North East Link Project – North East Link Environment Effects Statement, 3135006 | ii 8.1 Context ............................................................................................................................. 137 8.2 Construction impacts ....................................................................................................... 137 8.3 Operation impacts ............................................................................................................ 137 9. Impact assessment (construction) – social local study area ...................................................... 139 9.1 Context ............................................................................................................................. 139 9.2 Land acquisition and relocation ....................................................................................... 139 9.3 Amenity and character ..................................................................................................... 146 9.4 Access and connectivity................................................................................................... 156 9.5 Community infrastructure facilities and users .................................................................. 166 10. Impact assessment (operation) – social local study area .......................................................... 181 10.1 Land acquisition and relocation ....................................................................................... 181 10.2 Amenity and character ..................................................................................................... 181 10.3 Access and connectivity................................................................................................... 190 10.4 Community infrastructure facilities and users .................................................................. 198 11. Alternative design options .......................................................................................................... 206 11.1 Manningham Road interchange alternative ..................................................................... 206 11.2 Northern tunnel boring machine (TBM) alternative launch site ....................................... 206 12. Cumulative impacts from other developments ........................................................................... 208 13. Environmental Performance Requirements ............................................................................... 209 14. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................. 212 15. References ................................................................................................................................. 213 GHD | Report for North East Link Project – North East Link Environment Effects Statement, 3135006 | iii Table index Table 2-1 Scoping requirements relevant to social impact assessment .............................................. 2 Table 2-2 Linkages to other technical reports ...................................................................................... 4 Table 4-1 Commonwealth legislation ................................................................................................... 8 Table 4-2 State legislation .................................................................................................................... 9 Table 4-3 State and Melbourne plans and policies ...........................................................................