Hit the road, locals tell east-west plan
Date
July 21, 2013
Local residents opposed to the building of the east-west road project have vowed to chain themselves to construction machinery and to engage in protests and picket lines.
At a packed meeting in Collingwood on Saturday the air was thick with talk of revolt, with local Socialist Party councillor Steve Jolly even describing the project as a ''Berlin Wall'' that would divide the north and south of the City of Yarra.
''We will chain ourselves to whatever equipment we need to,'' he said.
He called on residents to reject government compensation to buy out their houses as the project could be stopped. ''We want [local resident] 'Chopper' Read and everyone else to stay in this area.''
The meeting of about 200 people, forced into a local health centre by heavy rain, was no place for Liberal Party supporters with speakers from the Greens, Labor and Socialist Party seeking to outdo each other on what a calamity the project was.
Most spoke of how the $6 billion to $8 billion the road would cost could be better spent on rail. Greens federal MP Adam Bandt attacked it as a ''complete waste of money. This will be the next desal project if this goes ahead,'' he said. ''I don't want Melbourne to become Los Angeles.''
Local Labor MP Richard Wynne said he was opposed to the project and that Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews had called it a ''hoax''.
''We will never support this,'' Mr Wynne said. He promised the party would have more to say on the issue soon.
Among residents there was obvious anger, too, with applause and cheers at attacks on the project and at the ''outrageous'' way residents had been informed of offers for their houses. Reports in The Saturday Age that taxpayers would take on much of the risk for the project were also cited as further evidence of how flawed it all was.
Cr Jolly said he wanted 1000 people to sign a petition distributed and signed at the meeting that vowed ''determined direct action''.
Another ''emergency rally'' is planned for the other end of the proposed project in Parkville on Sunday at 11am.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/hit-the-road-locals-tell-eastwest-plan-20130720-2qb8v.html#ixzz2Zchqla3H