MARIBYRNONG Council has thrown its weight behind the fight for noise barriers to be installed along the entire length of the railway line through Maribyrnong.
The council is calling on the state government to commit immediately to building the barriers.
Noise levels from the $5billion Regional Rail Link project are predicted to be highest from Footscray to West Footscray, with average noise levels by 2024 to be up to 78 decibels during the day and 75 decibels at night.
An Environment Protection Authority report released early last year found noise from extra rail traffic could cause chronic sleep disturbance.
Planning Minister Matthew Guy has told the Regional Rail Link Authority it must come up with a new noise management plan for the project west of Deer Park.
But no such demand has been made for the stretch from the city to Deer Park.
Maribyrnong mayor John Cumming said if the barriers were not put in place now they never would be. “We support the Regional Rail Link and we recognise the need, but this [the barriers] is something they could do within the framework of the project.”
He said a lot more households were going to be affected than the authority’s figures suggested, and $40million spent now would save a lot more money in the long run. “We are after the maximum increase in amenity available from this project, not a loss.”
An advisory report prepared for Mr Guy for the city-Deer Park section found plans “fail to deal reasonably and rationally with the operational noise impacts anticipated”, shifting noise mitigation responsibility back to landowners.
Noise barriers are not within the current scope of the project, but the authority has said it will comply with the government’s proposed rail noise policy, due by the end of the year.
The council will also write to federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese insisting on a commitment to noise protection as part of federal spending.
