It is resolved that Council:

(A) note that, based on the inadequate information currently available about the proposed WestConnex project, the stated objectives of the project – additional freight capacity and urban renewal – will not be achieved;
(B) note that the project as currently configured and funded will have unacceptable impacts on the City of Sydney, including:

(i) massively expanding private vehicle traffic flowing into already congested inner west streets; and
(ii) destroying sections of Sydney Park, an important and much loved regional park;

(C) request that the Lord Mayor write to the Premier and the Minister for Roads informing them that, for the reasons outlined above, Council opposes the WestConnex project in its current form and requests them to:

(i) revisit the configuration of the project in the context of its stated objectives;
(ii) defer any moves to finalise tenders or contracts for the project until standard planning and approvals processes are complete;
(iii) publicly release all relevant information associated with the project including the full business case, all traffic modelling and impact assessments, and the proposed locations of portals and ventilation stacks;
(iv) release information on any further potential road widening, clearways and changes to signalised intersections within the City of Sydney; and
(v) establish an ongoing working group consisting of the WestConnex Delivery Authority and the City of Sydney to share information, resolve identified problems and develop alternative solutions where necessary; and

(D) request the Chief Executive Officer prepare an independent assessment of the impacts of the proposed WestConnex project on the City of Sydney, including traffic modelling and the feasibility of alternatives such as rail freight linking Port Botany and Sydney Airport to the western suburbs.

The plan

The State and Federal Governments are proposing spending $15 billion dollars (more than $3,000 for every man, woman and child in Sydney) extending the M4 and M5.  They are doing this based on a business plan that contains no hard numbers on traffic volumes. Simply to pay the interest on that much money would require half a million vehicles a day to use the new tunnels – more than double the patronage of the current M4 and M5 combined.

From 2019 and 2023, at least, the M5 extension is to end at Sydney Park – as if the surrounding roads were not already at capacity. No modelling on the impact of the additional traffic has been released. There will be widening of the roads immediately next to the park, at the cost of up to 80 houses and a good chunk of Sydney Park, but not the roads they feed.

The government appears to have dismissed public transport out of hand, even though kilometres driven per person are falling, while usage of public transport, cycling and walking are all increasing.

There is no information about where the exhaust stacks will be, or whether they will be filtered.

Sample letters

We encourage you to write to your local MPs, and to one or all of the State Upper House crossbench MPs who hold the balance of power [Click here for contact details].

We don’t want to encourage form letters. Any letter is better than no letter, but a short letter saying what your personal concerns are is is worth more than a long form letter.

To help inspire you in writing your own letter, here are some letters that people have been sending:

• sample_letter_calling_for_Upper_House_enquiry
• sample_letter_listing_concerns

Upcoming events

WestConnex Development Authority have upcoming information sessions at:

• Saturday 22 November, 10am to 1pm
  Unit B2, 238 Princes Highway, St Peters
  St Peters Town Hall (upstairs)
• Tuesday 25 November, 10am to 12pm
  and 4.30pm to 7.30pm
  39 Unwins Bridge Road, Sydenham

There are a number of rallies planned. This is not an exhaustive list:

• Stand up for Sydney!: WestConnex, Planning, Towers, Bay Precinct, CSG, etc.
  27th November, 12:00, in the Domain near Parliament house
• WestConnex Community Day of Action
  “A fun day for all opposed to WestCONnex: action groups, residents, concerned friends from all over Sydney to come together. Planned in partnership with our friends at Reclaim The Streets Sydney”
  13th December, 13:00, Simpson park, Campbell street, St Peters

Action Groups

• WestConnex Action Group
• No WestConnex: Public transport not motorways
• Westcon Community Action Groups
• EcoTransit, Sydney

Reference Documents

• WestConnex Business Case – summary [Preliminary business case only – no hard numbers]
• New M5_Project_Overview
• Household_Travel_Survey_2011-12_(summary)
• WestConnex_M4_Widening_Environment Impact Statement [The M5 Environment Impact Statement is still pending – this is the best we have for the moment]
• WestConnex_New_M5_State Significant Infrastructure_Application_Report
• WestConnex Business Case-FOI results (20 Meg)