METRONET —
ARMADALE RAIL LINE — CONSULTATION
102. Hon Dr BRIAN WALKER to the Leader of the House
representing the Minister for Transport:
I refer the minister to the proposed
18-month closure of the Armadale line to allow for Metronet connectivity and
the removal of various crossings.
(1) Were any or
all of the local mayors whose councils contain portions of the line consulted
ahead of the announcement of the closure; and, if so, on what dates, and in the
interests of transparency, will the minister table any responses received?
(2) Were the
local members in the other place consulted, or did they themselves hold
consultations on behalf of the government; and, if so, on what dates, and in
the interests of transparency, will the minister table any responses received?
(3) Were any
other bodies, organisations or individuals consulted ahead of the announcement;
again, if so, on what dates, and in the interests of transparency, will the
minister table any responses received?
(4) If none of
these individuals or bodies have been consulted to date, what plans, if any,
does the government have to consult with them in the near future?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1)–(4) The
state government made the decision to announce the closure 12 months in advance
in order to allow for extensive consultation to be undertaken with the
community. A number of different shutdown options were considered; however, it
was determined that other options such as shorter, more frequent shutdowns over
a longer period would be more disruptive to the community over the longer term.
Prior to the announcement, the Metronet managing director personally contacted
the relevant local councils.
It should be noted that after the
initial announcement by the commonwealth government to fund the Victoria Park level crossing removal project, the
minister met with the relevant councils. Both the City of Canning and
the City of Armadale requested that their councils be considered for Metronet
projects and funding. The minister subsequently took this up with the
commonwealth.