ROBINSON ROAD CLOSURE — BELLEVUE
264. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the proposal to close
Robinson Road due to the Bellevue railcar facility.
(1) Does the minister support the
closure of Robinson Road, a strategic route in Bellevue?
(2) Have alternatives been
considered, as called for by the local member?
(3) When will traffic modelling be made available to
the Bellevue Residents and Ratepayers Association that demonstrates how
the Robinson Road closure will impact Lloyd Street, Clayton Street and the
surrounding roads?
Ms R.
SAFFIOTI replied:
(1)–(3) I thank the member for the question. He is correct
that traffic modelling is being finalised for the closure of Robinson Road. This issue has been raised with me
by the member for Midland—the Speaker—and others in the
community who are concerned. However, with all projects comes change and
disruption. As I said, it is easy to do nothing and not to make any changes,
like the former government. It did not have any disruption when it built the
Metro Area Express light rail because the government did not build it. It did
not cause any disruption when it built the Thornlie–Cockburn Link
because it did not build anything. Of course, it did not cause any disruption when
it built the Ellenbrook rail line because the former government never built it.
With all projects come challenges
and issues. This is a massive new manufacturing facility and the new home of
rail manufacturing in Western Australia. It is a significant project and there
will be a number of train movements. Not
only have we opened the new railcar manufacturing facility, but also the
high-voltage testing facility is now being constructed together with a new
diesel maintenance facility in that area. Yes, we are taking land in that entire area and we have tried to see how we
can facilitate the continued movement of traffic on Robinson Road with
all these projects and we will continue to see what we can do. But the current
advice to me is that that road will need to be closed and modelling undertaken
to look at the associated impacts. That is
the challenge with building projects. When we build projects and bring back the
home of rail manufacturing to Western Australia, there will be disruption and
change. As the Minister for Planning and
Minister for Transport in particular, I know that people do not like change,
but as a government we want to bring
rail manufacturing back to the Bellevue–Midland area. We are proud of
our policy. It is a policy that the Liberal and National Parties never
supported. They never supported bringing rail manufacturing to this state.
We will release that modelling once
it is finalised. As I said, projects cause disruption and change, but this will
be the home of hundreds of workers. This will support jobs and opportunities
throughout Western Australia. It is one of the proudest projects to bring back
rail manufacturing when no-one thought that we could do it and members opposite—in
that corner—are opposed to it.