Highway opponents will block bulldozers

PROTESTERS will stand in front of bulldozers in their bid to stop Roe Highway Stage 8 from going through the Beeliar wetlands if the State Government ignores a 4000-signature petition opposing the proposal.

The Save Beeliar Wetlands coalition, made up of 11 community and conservation groups, is campaigning to protect North and Bibra Lakes from the major road works.

Its members presented the petition to State Opposition Leader Eric Ripper this afternoon on the steps of Parliament House.

Coalition co-convener Felicity McGeorge said it reflected the community’s concerns about a highway constructed through the wetlands.

Dr McGeorge hoped the State Government would realise thousands of people were against its construction and would fight against it.

She said the coalition had plenty of passionate people who would stand in front of bulldozers to protect their wetlands.

Community concerns included the loss of wetlands and recreational areas and the highway being built through established suburbs.

“It is shocking that in this day and age people think it is acceptable to destroy nature,” Dr McGeorge said.

The coalition wants Roe Highway Stage 8 deleted from the Metropolitan Regional Scheme.

The State Government has allocated $20 million to finalise planning and start construction of the highway.

Dr McGeorge said an inquiry was urgently needed into the construction of the road as it would damage the fragile wetlands.

“Alternative transport routes and modes were devised during the Freight Network Congress between 2002-2004,” she said.

“North and Bibra lakes are recreational areas that are greatly valued by the community and must not be desecrated by major truck routes.”

Wetlands Conservation Society President Philip Jennings said he understood the concerns of Melville and Canning residents about heavy traffic on Leach Highway but Roe 8 was not a sensible solution.

“The Government must listen to the people and try to find a better solution,” he said.

Conservation Council WA wetlands policy officer Steven McKiernan said the wetlands needed to be protected and Roe 8 and would be “the death of them”.

Mr McKiernan said the protest would last for many months.

What everyone else is thinking

Cathy

26/10/2009

ROE 8 has NO PLACE in the environment of BEELIAR WETLANDS (Bibra Lake reserve), there can be NO ACCEPTABLE OPTION. The freight movements need to be directed away from Fremantle to Cockburn Sound (existing shipping area) and freight should be moved via a rail system (reduce road traffic). The air and noise pollution generated by diesel fueled trucks will only increase (and then we'll have to widen Roe 8 later to cater for the increased traffic), the run off from the Roe 8 will seriously impact on the wetlands (which has already suffered from the increased burden of more residents drawing from the groundwater in the area via bores). We bought and built in Bibra Lake in 1981 BECAUSE it was a beautiful piece of natural bushland relatively close to Perth, we have seen it progressively whittled down as developers and local councils have allowed incompetent planning processes to decimate the remaining green belt. Revegetation takes decades to replace what was cleared. SAY NO TO ROE 8!!!

Mike

14/10/2009

Gee Stanley sure has a lot to say in Favour of Roe 8. Perhaps stop and listen to an opposing argument and understand it. Seems here you have an answer for everything but no real clue.

26/08/2009

Unfortunately this "go/no go Roe8" has been used by consecutive Labor/Liberal governments to win votes for the past 20 years. Barnett hasn't travelled out of his home towns of Mosman Park and Cottesloe in his life. He's a man driven by ambition and just wants his own way on this. The reason Barnett wants Roe8 to go ahead is because Labor didn't want it to go ahead. Pity Carpenter made a mistake calling an early election. If he'd waited a bit longer Barnett would by now have been enjoying his early retirement, (perhaps even taking time to write his comments in this forum,) and left us free of his megalomaniac driven ambitions. Note, this argument is really all about politicians fullfilling personal ambitions. It's not about the government of the day making sound decisions or demonstrating good judgement to its constituents. But to those who do care about the madness of this proposal, I say Vote Greens at the next election.

Ford Prefect

30/06/2009

They could lie down in front of the bulldozers... like Arthur did, but it made absolutely no difference, because Earth was blown up to make space for the intergalactic highway anyway. (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

Shane

18/06/2009

As a matter of fact, we live off Parkway Road and to be honest, can't wait until the extension comes through. But please give us easy access to it, as at the moment, we have to go all the way to Karel Ave just to get on the Roe. The environment will be fine and anyway, if you whingers want to live in peace and tranquility, there's plenty of countryside out there. This is a large, growing, capital city - get used to it!!

Stanley

30/05/2009

How many of these people will be standing in front of the bulldozers to stop High street being made into a NEW road through the golf course and netball parking area !

Knutham

03/04/2009

Those who support the stage 8 extension are more likely living along Leach Hwy or South Street while those against are along the proposed route. As a matter of fact, it wouldn't be the end of the world no matter stage 8 has been built or not. Our roads will get busier, to those who hope Roe Stage 8 would ease the truck traffics on Leach or South Street, I would say your dreams would be short-lived. The only solution is to build another port away from residential area and build a railway to there. As long as we use Freo to ship stuff, we will never have peace! SO to me, Roe Stage 8 is not the solution, Leach Hwy or South Street is not the solution.

Jim Reddyhough

02/04/2009

If part of the proposed Highway was elevated on stanchions, Hope Road could be closed and bulldozed, the area could be rehabilitated, and wildlife and humans could have the whole run of the wetlands without a dividing road. The migrating birds would not be affected, because the two lakes on the reserve are well away from the proposed road.
I love animals and plants, but from a moral point of view, I venture to say that the preservation of our own species is paramount. The wish of people local to the Beeliar Wetlands to possess their own private nature reserve in a metropolitan area designated for human habitation amounts to selfishness and a lack of morality if morality is defined as love of fellow man (or woman). To choose the well- being of animals and plants before that of fellow humans by condemning the latter to the present twin Hells of Leach Highway and South Street is therefore morally as well as logically wrong.

Judy Knubel

28/03/2009

Before spending more millions, what about providing more car park space so we can use the train/bus public transport. There is nowhere to park ($50 fine for a verge park) so whats the use of trying to use the system. Spend on cleaning up the dirty verges all over, pick up rubbish, water the trees provided, maintain parks/gardens around the shops. The whole place looks unkept, dirty. Beeliar Drive itself, what is going on with the ugly grey sand, now showing, from what was bushland around the little lake that is 'home' to so many birds.
The constant black dust, concrete factory that blows eternally. There is so much more to spend money on.

sylvia jenkin

27/03/2009

We should be using trains instead of trucks going to and from the Fremantle Port.....2 lanes, less truck traffic and less people ennoyed!!!! Why destroy more bushland/wetlands if there is enough roads in Perth anyway....plus: People who bought houses close to big roads knew they were there...they could have chosen different! And...in times of recession the money should be spend wiser.......we have to remember: no nature, no happy humans! I hope the wise people win this case!!!!!

Amanda

26/03/2009

We bought our house in Booragoon back in 1995 and since then the trucks travelling along Leach Hwy have increased considerably. We have been waiting patiently for 14 years for Roe Hwy to be completed. The protestors are not concerned about the wetlands they are concerned about how it will affect them, even though they bought their land knowing a major highway was proposed through there. Leach Highway travels between Piney Lakes in Winthrop and Booragoon Lake and this hasn't affected the bird life.

An interesting thing about that 4000 signature petition is that some of the petitions were in places like a hair dressors salon where the ladies were signing it in a social manner not realy knowing much about what it was realy all about..... If Hope road is a MINOR road why is it a 70kph speedway not a local road speed of only 50kph !!

Horse

Dr. McGeorge thinks that the 4000 strong petition reflects community concerns regarding the Roe 8 plan, what did she think about the overwelming community support of the original Roe 8 & FEB when submissions were received by the Planning Commission. I believe it was the highest number of submissions ever recieved by the Planning Commission ( around 11,000 with approx 9000 supporting the original MRS plan.)
It pays to get a second opinion doctor.

Julie Chapman

25/03/2009

I live right on farrington road and although occaisionly the trucks and traffic annoy me, it annoys me FAR less than the thought of the destruction of the link between North and Bibra Lake.i understand that infrustracture is high on australia's list of priorities but the environment should be right on the top of that list!
no matter how wide the road is between the lakes, it will still have a devestating effect on the ecosystem.
*noise pollution will drive away many spcies of birds and mammals, in cluding migratory birds that NEED these lakes as a resting and feeding ground.
*pollution of the lakes from rubbish dumped on sides of roads
*atmosheric pollution from fumes
*a lack of genetic drift between the two areas
*changes in water flow and groundwater levels from disturbance
not to mention all the other smaller issues which all pile up to someting massive!
SAVE BEELIER WETLANDS
ill be standing in front of the bulldozers if this idiotic plan goes through.

Jimbo62

I would like to see some form of Roe 8 go through. At the moment trucks DO USE Farrington Road along with an awful lot of other traffic.
The Freeway and Leach Highway are not as efficient as they should be as there is only one lane to leave the Freeway to go towards Fremantle.
High Street also needs a major overhaul as the traffic conditions on this road are terrible. Many many trucks at all times of the day juggling positions with the cars. The Black Cockatoos also have breeding grounds near Jandakot Airport. Don't underestimate how animals can adapt to a changing enviroment. Nothing will be perfect either way - but something does need to be done.

23/03/2009

YES BUT the brake down lanes and merging lanes dont go over the overpass bridges do they and the extra width is for noise reduction landscaping and for the birds and animals too. All that landscaping will be gone if the land is sold off for housing development.

Melinda

Jandakot is also a marginal Liberal seat that was won last election in a swing which could just as easily swing back the other way... So the Liberal Party had best take note of the community's wishes with regards to the need to protect this area.

What is Joe Francis (Member for Jandakot) doing about this issue?

Roe7 is six lanes - 4 for moving traffic and one each way for breakdowns, plus it expands out to 8 lanes to allow for exit and entry ramps.

20/03/2009

Jim, where do you get 6 lanes from ? Go take a look, Roe 7 is only 4 lanes. Someone is trying to fool the people here into thinking it is bigger than it is.

Jim

19/03/2009

Sadly Stanley, Hope Road is already in existence, and nothing short of a magic wand is going to alter that. However, there is considerable difference between a 2 lane minor road and a 6 lane major highway. Hazardous though it may be at times, at least there can be some movement of fauna between North and Bibra Lakes as things stand.
There are less and less areas for wildlife in the Perth metropolitan area. It is important to preserve this bushland which is the home for a large number of native animals including the endangered carnaby's cockatoo.

Heather

It seems lunacy for this proposal to be on the agenda again.
How dare the Barnett Govt waste $20m of taxpayers money on a feasibility study for a road to nowhere - that into the bargain causes such environmental destruction in the process.
The Roe Stage 8 is a plan well and truely past it's use-by date and should be deleted from the MRS. Those precious dollars should be spent investigating the best transport options into the future based on all the information and technology we have available to us in 2009. The only justification to support the construction of Roe Stage 8 appears to be improving road safety. If the Govt really intends to endeavour to improve safety for road users and pedestrians it would hardly be supporting this proposal which at best may ease some of the issues in it's tenuous seat of Riverton and re-locate them to the other suburbs further west which are not in such marginal seats. Perhaps that is the real agenda!

Melinda, modern water runoffs these days channel runoff water into filter traps and can pump the water away from the area. Let's have a ROYAL COMMISION into who might have had a CONFLICT of INTEREST when those reports on savenorthlake were made and also the Fremantle Eastern Bypass land area. The Fremantle Eastern Bypass being on high ground could still go through a covered trench out of sight, out of mind with the local roads back on top. Why is Roe 8 said to be 6 lanes when Roe 7 is only 4 lanes in places?

Mary Peck

The current Liberal Government seems to have forgotten that there have been two in depth studies already on why the Roe Hwy Stage 8 should not go ahead. The State Government sponsored 2001 Freight Network Review and Congress supported the deletion of the Roe Highway Stage 8 reservation after a rigorous analysis of the competing environmental, social and industrial demands. There was extensive community consultation. In 2003 the West Australian EPA assessed the proposal for a freeway extension through the Beeliar Wetlands and reached the view that the various long lasting effects the road would have on the ecological values of the areas were not acceptable. The Beeliar Wetlands are an important carbon sink and provide recreation for hundreds of families who come from all over the Metropolitan area.
We need to look at solving the problem. The current Government should direct resources in to upgrading the current freight rail network which already runs close by.

The Freight Network Congress brought industry, transport, community and environmental groups together to determine the most economically, socially and environmentally sustainable, ie long term, solutions to the traffic issues of Leach Hwy. This report is located on savenorthlake.com (The Multi-criteria assessment of road planning options - October 2004 - Murdoch University.) It was found that the current alignment of Roe8 was not necessary and other options provided better solutions. Large sums of taxpayers' money do not need to be again spent on yet another "community consultation" when this has already been completed. $20 million would be far better spent implementing the recommendations that the Congress Report found. A six-lane freeway will most certainly be able to be heard whilst picnicking at Adventure World. The Highway run-off pollution that will enter the lakes system will go straight into the Jandakot mound which supplies 10 gigalitres of Perth's drinking water

Crikey Lynn, where did I put me violin. The traffic is already on Melville's streets as it is with Farrington road and ALL the other roads around the lakes since Roe 8 was stopped going over Hope road. The report about "Farrington road calming" on the savenorthlake website says it all. You have only got yourselves to blame for all the traffic around the lakes by stopping Roe 8. People won't be fooled all the time by missleading tales of not being able to hear the ducks when sitting on a bench way down at the picnic area near Adventure World. They might not be able to hear the ducks from the screams and shouts from the playground either or the ice cream van generator. Another something people can do is look at Hope road between the lakes on the "www.whereis.com" Search Australian Maps web site.

Lynn

Does anyone really believe the notion that cutting a 100 metre scar and building the road "above" the wetlands somehow "improves it"? Can you imagine sitting on the bench by the Lake unable to hear the frogs or the ducks over the roar of the trucks and the cars? Why suggest that the habitat for several endangered and protected species of plants and animals should be sacrificed for a 6 lane stretch of road which would run parallel to both Leach Hwy and South Street and dump traffic into Melville's streets? We need to protect and preserve wetlands, they filter water, and the plants and trees growing there filters air and traps carbon. This plan has been obsolete for many years, it doesn't solve any problems but it destroys one of the last remaining wetlands in Perth. Let go of Roe 8. Let go of this ridiculous out-dated road plan once and for all and take up sensible solutions to improve traffic flow - like better rail freight systems and light rail in more areas.

18/03/2009

Are they realy the TRUE facts on the savenorthlake web site or just what some protesters want us to believe! I see even Philip contradicts it by saying it is Bibra lake that the corner will be changed in the development. The POWER lines also go through between North lake and Bibra Lake. Another way the people are being fooled is pictures dont even show Hope road that should be seen if the picture of the lake is not another con job to fool the public. Maps 347-348 of the 2006 UBD Street Directory shows where Roe 8 goes over Hope road between the lakes. Don't take my word for it, go and see for yourselves how Hope road is now a defacto Roe 8 speedway through to Forrest road and other local roads. Don't get fooled into just going to the Bibra lake picnic area to see how loverly it is. Hope road is way up the other end of Bibra lake.

Philip

Stanley doesn't have his facts right. The Roe Highway will involve a massive 100 metre wide road reserve through pristine wetlands and woodland north of Hope Road. The Roe Swamp would disappear under an interchange. The MRS alignment also involves cutting off the top corner of Bibra Lake. Raising it above the wetlands will simply worsen the noise and pollution problems. This is not a rational or sustainable option. Surely we can solve the problems on Leach Highway by putting more freight on the rail system and improving the public trasport system. We don't need to destroy the Beeliar Wetlands to reduce traffic problems in Melville and Riverton.
If anyone wants to know the real facts about Roe 8 they should visit www.savenorthlake.com

Laurie Humphreys

Coolbellup residents should rally behind the NO ROE 8 movement more so than anyone as they will be affected by both noise and foul diesel pollution both of which will be in abundance should this road go between St Pauls estate and Coolbellup,, Bad planning has allowed houses to be built up to the road allignment and no amount of fencing will stop the noise because of the uphill gradient between the lakes and forrest road.

Hope road already goes 'THROUGH' the wetlands where Roe 8 is planed to go. People are again being fooled into thinking it will go THROUGH the actual lake. Roe 8 could raise Hope road UP out of the wetlands in a combined OVERPASS out of the wetlands, out of the way of nesting animals or over it leaving Hope road as local traffic only. What will happen to ALL the trees if the road reserve is sold off for fence to fence housing developments! Roe 8 will provide 1000's of more trees in the landscaping stage. Hope road, Bibra drive, Farrington road, Beeliar drive, Forrest road, the so-called Progress drive, Berrigan Drive and many other local streets around the wetlands are now high speed defacto Roe 8 speedways because Roe 8 was stopped and the protesters have only got themselves to blame for it. Why is it that they are not protesting to have Hope road removed from going through the so-called wetlands where Roe 8 will go!

Kim

17/03/2009

Colin Barnett wants to throw away $20 million to start a road that will never go ahead when it could be better spent on sustainable transport solutions and conservation of our declining natural resources that are of international importance.
Congrats to the Save Beeliar Wetlands team for their gutsy work.