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A controversial railway project in the city faces a reaction from the growing community as its future hangs in balance.
Melbourne’s suburban rail loop has become a political boxing bag about cost concerns and criticisms are increasing among residents and local groups.
A document prepared by the suburban authority Rail Loop in July 2024, obtained by the Victorian coalition under the laws of information, suggests that the opposition is increasing the plans of the enclosures of the station for high -rise apartments.
It was evaluated that about 71 percent of the initial consultation responses in the six enclosures of the station in Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill were agreed with the plans, compared to 19 percent to not agree.
In a matter of months, the general support had fallen to 50 percent and the opposition was up to 42 percent after a second round of consultation.
Changing the feeling was particularly marked for draft plans in Cheltenham and Box Hill, with support that collapsed from 63 percent and 71 percent to 23 % and 22 % respectively.
The general disagreement increased from 25 % to 66 percent for Cheltenham and from 17 % to 71 percent for Box Hill.
The leader of the Victorian opposition, Brad Battin, who has asked the state government to immediately cancel the project, said the circuit does not have “friends”, and the comments send a clear message to Prime Minister Jacinta Allan.
“The Allan’s Labor Government has taken a DUE project to the elections twice separated with not all facts,” he said.
“And now those facts are going on the table, the Victorian community simply does not want it.”
The proposed orbital rail loop of 90 km is destined to run from Cheltenham in southeast of Melbourne to Werribee in the outer west through the Tullamarine airport.
It is estimated that the entire project would cost $ 50 billion when it was revealed by Victorian labor before the 2018 state elections.
Its price was reviewed at $ 34.5 billion only for the Eastern section, but Australia infrastructure recently questioned that estimate and requested an “exit strategy.”
The planning minister, Sonya Kilkenny, suggested that the government was not deterred by the negative reaction of the community and would advance with the project.
“This is a project that will be delivered for 10-20 years,” he said.
“This is a project that is preparing Victoria for the future … This is a project that will put Melbourne on the world map.”
She moved away from the repeated questions about whether the state of the debt can pay the rail circuit, and Victoria had the federal government to cover a third of its cost.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has described the railway project as a “cruel deception” and promised to cancel $ 2.2 billion in federal funds for the first stage, if it was chosen on May 3.
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