The Conversation: Roe 8 fails the tests of responsible 21st-century infrastructure planning Peter Newman (16 February 2017)

The Roe 8 project illustrates all that is wrong with how we are planning and managing infrastructure in our cities. The Beeliar Group suggests the lack of transparency and accountability for the project points to a government that has lost its sense of responsibility. It’s probably also a result of federal government intervention that upset proper processes of planning.

The highly politicised and compromised process is similar to other big road projects across Australia such as East West Link in Melbourne and WestConnex in Sydney. All arose from the Abbott government’s interventions in transport infrastructure.

These interventions were highly unusual. The Commonwealth normally assesses and funds but does not suggest specific projects. The desperate activism associated with these three projects suggests we need to avoid such top-down planning. Read more.