Photo: ANDREW KACIMAIWAI
The Victorian Government has revealed more details about its Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) project that is expected to build more than 70,000 homes close to six stations.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for the SRL Harriet Shing visited the future Box Hill SRL station site to reveal draft details of the project’s next phase.
Premier Jacinta Allan says the SRL is all about world-class public transport and affordable homes to go with it.
“This benefits our whole city because building enough homes for young people near transport and jobs in established suburbs will take pressure off the outer suburbs,” she says.
Shing says that as construction of the new SRL stations continues, they are planning the services and open spaces.
The government says it has received nearly 10,000 online submissions for what each SRL neighbourhood will look like.
Government says this feedback helped refine proposed building height limits. In more commercial areas, the limits should increase while in more residential areas, they should reduce, the submissions said.
LOOP NEIGHBOURHOODS
In Box Hill, residents want better walking and cycling paths; plans now include a Nelson-Thurston walking and cycling bridge and a path between Union and Laburnum stations.
In Burwood, the call is for more pedestrian friendly corridors to cope with greater students and young visitors to the area.
In Glen Waverley, locals want to improve Kingsway by extending public space that links the Civic Precinct and The Glen Shopping Centre.
In Monash, locals want new open spaces around the SRL Station and along Mile Creek Drainage Reserve.
In Clayton, residents want a new connection from Clayton Road through the shops to the community centre and wider footpaths on Clayton Road.
In Cheltenham, locals want better pedestrian crossings with more to be added over the Frankston Line, Nepean Highway and Bay Road.
Community consultation on the new draft plans will open from Monday, March 17. To view the draft plans, visit suburbanrailloop.vic.gov.au/structure-plans.
Construction work is powering ahead at all sites, the government says, with tunnel boring machines due to arrive this year and tunnelling to start in 2026.
PROPERTY COUNCIL
The Property Council of Australia welcomed the new plans but want the government to drop its taxes.
Council’s Victorian Executive Director Cath claims the government’s tax regime remains a severe barrier to development.
“Victoria’s uncompetitive property tax regime will keep investors clear of these precincts,” she says.
“While we support transit-related development such as the SRL, the industry continues to face significant and increasing difficulty getting projects to financially stack up.
“Unless the state’s costly, unwieldy and investment-repelling tax regime is reformed, attracting investors to these precincts will only get harder,” she says.
