For many years Monash Council has called for the removal of the level crossing in Clayton Road as a key priority.
Therefore Council welcomes the State Government’s commitment to remove this notorious level crossing at Clayton, and to remove two additional crossings in Clayton and Hughesdale.
Unconfirmed reports in today’s Herald Sun suggest skyrail is one of the options being considered to replace these crossings.
Monash Council is calling on the State Government to conduct a full and genuine consultation about its plans for removing these crossings.
Mayor Stefanie Perri said the Council wanted to see the crossings removed as soon as possible, as the crossings continue to cause major traffic congestion and safety concerns.
However, Cr Perri said the Council was concerned about the report in today’s Herald Sun detailing the exploration of replacing level crossings with suburban skyrail.
“The reported option of skyrail raises concerns for us, including concerns about aesthetics, impact on residential amenity and noise, particularly at night when residents who live near the rail line are trying to sleep,” Cr Perri said.
“However what we have at this stage is a disturbing report, unconfirmed by the government. We have asked the Level Crossing Authority to brief the full Council at our first briefing meeting of the year because Council and our community need more information and we want the full facts.
“The government has yet to confirm whether skyrail is its preferred option. It is not Council’s preferred option and if the government does indeed plan on presenting this option to the community for consultation, there is much we need to discuss.
“There is some comfort in the government’s commitment to conducting extensive community consultation on the plans over the next few months, we welcome that.
“Our community and Council need to know more about what is being proposed before we can give a strong opinion for or against.
“We look forward to learning more about the government’s plans and to these plans being shared openly and in detail with our community.
“We call on the government to conduct genuine consultation including listening very carefully to the concerns of Council and our community.
“This is a once in a 100 year opportunity to improve how the rail lines interact with our community.
“After years of successive governments ignoring these dangerous level crossings, the current government is committed to removing them.
“We are very pleased about that, but it is critically important that we get the design and modeling right, so that the removal of these crossings can have the best possible impact on our community.”
Media Contact: Jo Robertson 0418 391 979 or email JoanneR@monash.vic.gov.au