NorthLink WA is an impressive project, but it should not be allowed to unfairly impact the residents in close proximity to it. Yet it does.

On Monday I attended a meeting with some residents and the contractors for NorthLink – John Holland. The purpose was to find out exactly what is happening with regards to a sound barrier wall adjacent to Redlands Street, Bayswater. The John Holland representatives were nice guys and it was appreciated by all that they came out to meet with us. But when the details were provided, everyone had concerns. This is the same area of Bayswater which has had the concrete batching plant dumped on them by the State Administrative Tribunal.

We were told that the wall is going to be between 3 and 3.8 metres high, and their modelling showed that this would cause the noise to be at the current level or less. Sounds like a good sized wall, but when asked what ground level they were measuring the wall height from, a problem emerged.

The white arrow indicates the base level of the proposed wall, however the bulldozer on the other side of the existing wall is at the approximate NorthLink highway level.

Unless they are very small workman in the background, I think that the wall is going to start about 1.5 metres below the road level; so in actual fact the proposed 3 to 3.8 metre wall will be only 1.5 to  2.3 metres above the new highway. This means you may be able to visually observe trucks etc, and no doubt hear them.

John Holland said that if that’s the case then they will come and fix it because they must maintain or lower existing noise levels. But if they don’t, what then? Let’s ensure the job is done properly in the first place. The 3 to 3.8 metre wall needs to be from road level.

Resident action

Residents have started a facebook page: www.facebook.com/groups/124505698079799/ and an online petition: www.change.org/p/city-of-bayswater-fix-the-wall-height-on-northlink . They would appreciate your support.

I will be moving a motion at council that the City of Bayswater writes to the Minister for Transport and advocates for the wall height to be increased.

Power to the People

(Please be aware that these views are my own and have not been endorsed by the City of Bayswater)