melbourne metro rail project · impacts on accessibility of social infrastructure (includes direct...

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Melbourne Metro Rail ProjectExpert Witness Statement of Owen Boushel

1 September 2016

Introduction

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• Scope of the Social and Community Impact Assessment

• Benefits and opportunities• Technical notes• Issues raised – submissions and expert witness

statements• Environmental performance requirements

Scope of the social and community impact assessment

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• EES Evaluation Objectives– To manage the effects on the social fabric of the

community in the area of the project, including with regard to land use changes, community cohesion, business functionality and access to services and facilities, especially during the construction phase

– To avoid or minimise adverse effects on landscape, visual amenity and recreational values as far as practicable

Scope of the social and community impact assessment

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EES evaluation objectives Assessment criteria Criteria indicators

To manage the effects on the social fabric of the community in the area of the project, including with regard to land use changes, community cohesion, business functionality and access to services and facilities, especially during the construction phase

To avoid or minimise adverse effects on landscape, visual amenity and recreational values as far as practicable

Minimise impacts to private residential property owners and occupiers

Property acquisition / dislocation

Change to property access

Minimise impacts on social infrastructure such as educational, health, religious and sporting facilities

Loss of buildings, restricted operations, loss of users

Maintain community accessibility and avoid social severance

Impacts on accessibility of social infrastructure (includes direct impacts and indirect delays)

Severance of social networks

Achieve consistency with community values

Consistency with views expressed during engagement

Minimise impacts on, and enhance amenity for residents and the community and maintain perceptions of safety during the construction phase

Changes to places and activities of special interest, attraction and value to the community, including public open spaces and recreation reserves

Amenity impacts on social infrastructure

Minimise impacts on valued places, including public open space and recreation reserves.

Changes in acoustic, visual, air quality or other aspects of amenity for residences, social infrastructure and valued spaces

Benefits and opportunities

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• Benefits accruing to the wider community: – Increase in the capacity, reliability and resilience of train

services. This would meet future demand and maintain levels of access and connectivity across the community

– Enable continued access to employment, social infrastructure, valued places and wider social networks

Key local benefits

• Integrate future residential development with the transport network

• Improved access to the Parkville medical and educational precinct

• Improves access to the Shrine of Remembrance, Albert Park, Domain Parklands and the wider employment area on St Kilda Road

• Improve safety with grade separated road crossings

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Technical notes – project changes

• TN9 - Access Ramp to Business Park– Limited amenity impact on dwellings

• TN 12 - Franklin Street Legacy Condition– Limit but not preclude the opportunity to reinstate

Franklin Street as a space for passive recreation• TN 13 - Flinders Street Temporary Construction

Work Area– Further reduction in pedestrian access to the northern

end of Federation Square. Ian Potter Centre and ACMI are both accessible via the centre of Federation Square with direct access to Flinders Street Station

– Concerns about increased traffic flows on Flinders Lane7

Technical notes – project changes

• TN 15 Expanded construction areas in Domain– Concerns about:

• Potential impacts on residential amenity and access• Loss of parking as a further barrier to access• Temporary use of Bromby Street and vehicles using

local roads particularly during school times• TN16 – Removal of Fawkner Park TBM Southern

Launch– Addresses concerns raised in submissions and during

EES consultation– Largely reduce or avoid impacts on Fawkner Park– Reduction in cumulative impacts

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Technical notes

• The following technical notes are also of relevance to the social and community impact assessment:– TN 28 Land use and planning– TN 29 Social and community– TN 41 Environmental Management Framework– TN 43 Residential Impact Mitigation Guidelines for

Construction– TN 44 Parkville Precinct Reference Group– TN 46 Communications, stakeholder engagement and

complaints response

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Issues raised - submissions

• Submissions– Many state support for the project– Concerns largely relate to implementation– Overlap with issues raised during consultation– Aligned with issues identified in impact assessment

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• Private residential property owners and occupiers– Future plans, access, acquisition and property damage

• Community accessibility and social severance– Traffic congestion, loss of parking, disruption to existing

access patterns with impacts on access to parks, social infrastructure and existing networks

• Community values– Major events and reinstatement of acquired land

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• Amenity and perceptions of safety– Community facilities– Household amenity (construction, tunnelling, trucks,

operations, air quality)– Construction impacts on public safety (trucks, air

quality, emergency access, patient recovery)– Station design and anti-social behaviour– Late night safety in CBD south

• Valued places– Passive and active recreational space– Shrine of Remembrance Reserve and Shrine of

Remembrance activities– St Kilda Road streetscape12

Environmental Performance requirements

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• EPR’s exhibited have changed due to: – Feedback from expert witnesses– Consultation with key stakeholders

• There is now an improved understanding of how the EPR’s will be operationalised (articulated in the technical notes)

Environmental performance requirements

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EPR Theme

SC1 Reduce the disruption to residences from direct acquisition or temporary occupation through measures such as:

• Using a case-management approach for all project interactions with affected landowners• Appointing a social worker, buyers’ advocate or equivalent to help households with special needs manage the transition• Taking into account relative vulnerability and special needs of occupants• Purchasing properties early when supported by the landowner

• Minimise impacts to private residential property owners and occupiers

SC 2 Prior to main works or shaft construction in areas affected, develop a relocation management framework that responds to the Residential Impact Mitigation Guidelines to ensure allows for a uniform approach across the project for the voluntary (temporary) relocation of households subject to:

• Construction activities likely to unduly affect their amenity (e.g. out of hours works or sustained loss of amenity during the day for shift workers)• Loss of access

• Minimise impacts on, and enhance amenity for residents and the community and maintain perceptions of safety during the construction phase

• Maintain community accessibility and avoid social severance


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EPR Theme

SC3 Prior to main works or shaft construction, develop and implement a Community and Business Involvement Plan to engage potentially affected stakeholders and advise them of the planned construction activities and project progress. This plan should integrate all project activities that potentially impact on community and business operations and provide for a well-coordinated communication and engagement process. The plan must include:

• Measures to minimise impacts to the development and/or operation of existing facilities• Measures for providing advance notice of significant milestones, changed traffic conditions,

changed access and parking conditions, periods of predicted high noise and vibration activities• Measures for communicating the design and results from environmental monitoring programs (e.g.

vibration, noise, dust, ground movement).• Process for registering and managing of complaints• Measures to address any other matters which are of concern or interest to them.

The plan would consider each precinct and station location in detail. Stakeholders to be considered in the plan include (but are not limited to):

• Municipalities• Potentially affected residents• Potentially affected businesses• Recreation, sporting and community groups and facilities• Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Peter Doherty Institute and

other health and medical facilities• The University of Melbourne• RMIT• Melbourne Grammar• Fawkner Park Children’s Centre and Kindergarten• South Yarra Senior Citizens Centre• Other public facilities in proximity.

• All


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EPR ThemeSC4 Prior to main works or shaft construction commencing, work with the City of Melbourne to identify and implement possible alternative areas of public open space for community use during the construction phase to minimise the impacts of loss of existing public open space that are to be utilised as construction worksites.

• Minimise impacts on valued places, including public open space and recreation reserves

SC5 Work with relevant local councils to plan for and coordinate with key stakeholders during major public events.

• Achieve consistency with community values


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EPR ThemeSC6 In consultation with the City of Melbourne, develop a relocation strategy for sports clubs and other formal users of directly impacted recreational facilities. This strategy should aim, where available, to identify local alternative facilities for formal recreational users displaced from recreational facilities by the project. This strategy should avoid displacing existing users at alternative facilities.

• Minimise impacts on social infrastructure such as educational, health, religious and sporting facilities


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EPR ThemeSC7 In consultation with key stakeholders and in accordance with the Melbourne Metro Urban Design Strategy, relevant statutory approvals and other relevant requirements, re-establish sites impacted by construction works, including (but not limited to):

• Childers Street, Kensington• JJ Holland Park• Royal Parade and Grattan Street, Parkville• The south western entrance of the proposed CBD South station• St Kilda Road boulevard• Edmund Herring Oval• Fawkner Park and Fawkner Park Tennis Facility• Osborne Street Reserve• South Yarra Siding Reserve• Lovers Walk• The South African Soldiers War Memorial

• Achieve consistency with community values

• Minimise impacts on valued places, including public open space and recreation reserves


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EPR ThemeSC8 In consultation with the City of Melbourne, improve community access to open or recreational space within the CBD by identifying potential opportunities to return as much land as possible used for construction to permanent public open space at City Square and Federation Square. Plans must be in accordance with the Melbourne Metro Urban Design Strategy.

Minimise impacts on valued places,including public open space andrecreation reservesAchieve consistency with communityvalues

SC9 In consultation with the City of Melbourne, develop a plan to utilise part of the Franklin Street road reserve for public open space post-construction. Plans must be in accordance with the Melbourne Metro Urban Design Strategy.

Achieve consistency with communityvalues.


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• Cross over with other disciplines, key ones include– Transport (T1 and T3)– Land use (LU1) – Arboriculture (AR2 and AR3)– Landscape and Visual (LV1, LV2 and LV3)– Noise and vibration (NVB)

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