East West Link sparks Federal-State stoush while locals’ lives turned upside down
From ABC News Victoria & ABC 7.30 (12 March 2015)
First up on ABC News Victoria: Tony Abbott believes East West Link is still a thing, then ABC 730 segment featuring Mary Fenelon on home acquisition issues & more on Daniel Andrews vs. Tony Abbott.
ABC 730: East West Link sparks Federal-State stoush while locals’ lives turned upside down
As the Victorian government tried to get out of the East West Link deal and avoid paying compensation for it, the Prime Minister is urging them not to and local residents are dealing with the ways their lives have already been irrevocably changed.
From Letters to The Age: Trapped in quagmire (12 March 2015)
On October 16 last year (147 days ago), 102 properties were compulsorily acquired by Linking Melbourne Authority for the East West Link. Since then, about 86 properties have been voluntarily acquired. Most owners remain in limbo, unable to move on with their lives as they wait for acquisitions to be reversed or finalised.
It has been 103 days since Labor won power in Victoria. This would seem a reasonable amount of time for the appropriate authority to unravel this complex mess that the Coalition forced on property owners. Anxious residents demand clarification and direction. Surely it is not too much to ask that the Victorian government communicate and assure us of its plans and timetable to resolve this mess.
Keith Fitzgerald, Collingwood