500 Days And Counting
It is pathetic.
500 days since a train with faulty brakes smashed through the Lydiard Street heritage rail gates in Ballarat, they remain broken and the street closed.
The Victorian Government says work on a temporary solution will start next month, not September or October as previously announced.
Member for Western Victoria, Bev McArthur, said it’s appalling.
“A temporary solution should have opened Lydiard Street within days of the train crash on May 30, 2020.
“But 500 days on, the street remains shut and the Goverment’s boom gate solution snubs every heritage value for the precinct,” Mrs McArthur said.
The Shadow Minister for Planning and Heritage, Ryan Smith, said there is no excuse.
“If this was Collins Street in Melbourne, the problem would have been solved by now.
“Can you imagine Melbourne residents being treated like this? Can you imagine them putting up with Collins Street blocked for 500 days+?
“No. It wouldn’t happen in Melbourne.
“But this is regional Victoria, and like other important things, Premier Andrews has forgotten about it,” Mr Smith said.
In May, the Minister for Public Transport, Ben Carroll, announced $10.5 million for boom gates, a solution loudly opposed by locals keen to protect the 1873 gates and the heritage precinct.
Mrs McArthur said the permanent solution is a mystery.
“Even fellow Member for Western Victoria, Jaala Pulford, says there is no specific completion date, but that ‘it shouldn’t be much longer now’.
“She also says the ‘permit for the temporary boom gates is valid for 18 months’.
“Given that Heritage Victoria granted permission on Thursday, 7 October 2021, it means the `temporary’ boom gates could still be there until April 2023.
“Most people would consider a temporary solution to be ready in days, not 500 days and counting.”
The Victorian Government is spinning this issue as a ‘complex engineering and design solution’.
“Replica heritage gates have been sitting in Maryborough for more than a year. These gates could have been in place ages ago.
“And remember, this saga wasn’t caused by faulty gates, it was a faulty train – and we still don’t even have the final report on that.”
12 October 2021
