Cade Lucas
The campaign to have air filters installed on ventilation stacks for the soon to be completed West Gate Tunnel has reached the hallowed screens of Yarraville’s Sun Theatre.
Until the middle of next month, a short documentary on the filter campaign led by the Maribyrnong Truck Action Group (MTAG) is being shown before every film screening at the theatre, part of a last-ditch attempt to have filtration devices added to the tunnel’s ventilation stacks before they and the entire project, are completed.
The documentary ‘Stories of the West’ features an interview with MTAG president Martin Wurt and includes footage of the Clean Our Air rally in Yarraville Gardens on March 2, where protesters again demanded the state government install filters to prevent vehicles emissions from the tunnel adding to the inner-west’s already poor air quality.
The state government has long argued the West Gate Tunnel doesn’t need filters and that filtration technology is unproven.
Despite the documentary only showing at the theatre for just over week, Mr Wurt said it had already made an impact.
“Since screening started last weekend, we have seen a huge spike in the number of people signing our petition which is now well over 5000 signatures,” he said.
“This newsreel is going to help get more people aware of the two dirty vent stacks being built in the inner west.”
‘Stories of the West’ is directed by Bert Murphy, a filmmaker who produces other short films or ‘newsreels’ that the Sun Theatre play before film screenings.
“We’ve been making these newsreels for about 20 years now, we aim to make one per month and then show for a month,” said Sun Theatre owner Michael Smith.
“They are hyper local stories, all focussed on westside – they range from local profiles, to tales of history through to topical issues such as the filters on the stacks.
“We make them and fund them ourselves rather than having screen advertising, because that sucks.”
The topic of filtration for the West Gate Tunnel is also the subject of an information session hosted by the Environment Protection Authority Victoria at Brooklyn Community Hall on April 2.
Details: epa.vic.gov.au
‘Stories of the West’ can be seen at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AdXekz2neI
