Jan and I met with Metro Rail this week.  We met with

• James Tonkin (Director of Communications & Stakeholder Relations)
• Simon Adams (Domain Station Precinct Manager)
• Jacqueline Novoselec (Senior Communications & Stakeholder Relations Advisor).

They provided the attached detailed pack (2016-11-mm-presentation-20161109-botanica) and spent a couple of hours with us discussing many of the issues in detail, especially the timeline.  I stressed to MMRA that everyone is trying to plan around the tunnel and we need a timeline.  Obviously it is not possible to be 100% definitive but the information below is the best estimate today.

Our engagement is strong, they are always keen to meet on site at Botanica and are very open and frank.

This is my version of the timeline for ‘early works’ plus tunnel construction

Late 2016

• Work near the Shrine corner has commenced
• Eight juvenile trees will go
• Metro Rail have worked hard to keep two large trees in the compound area despite higher cost.

First half 2017

• Bromby St will re-open around March in preparation for Domain Rd closure
• Minor work in Bowen Cres on services relocation (telco lines, etc)
• Before Anzac Day
  • New permanent Tram Super Stop on city side of Toorak Rd
  • Some plane trees will go for this stop
  • Number 8 trams start running on new route
• Domain Road closed shortly after
• Sewer work commences
  • Will be large shaft in Domain Rd (Closed section) and Albert Rd

Second half 2017

• More sewer work
• Expect preferred tunnel and station contractors announced by September 2017
• Re-configure St Kilda Rd outside Botanica
  • One car lane, one tram lane and one bike lane in each direction
  • Outside Botanica, those lanes will be on opposite side of the road. They will sweep back to our side of the road near Albert Rd
  • The station box will be immediately on our kerb edge
  • Trees will go on both sides of the road
  • We will continue to have driveway access, except minor, well advised times.

Early 2018

• Tunnel and Station Contractor mobilization
• Construction of Station Box
  • Stage 1
    • Will be large  uncovered hole
    • Day work only
    • Will take roughly 18 months
    • Wall will be done via Diaphragm construction (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUlQyiHfex0) Should be less intrusive than pile driving
    • See Cut and Cover pictures in attachment
    • Hole will go from our kerb edge past the middle of road

Mid 2019

• Construction of Station Box
  • Stage 2
    • Acoustic shed built
    • Continuous 7/24 operation
    • Will take roughly 18 months

2021

• Construction materially complete
• Road back to final config
• Advanced trees replanted

2022-2025

• Final fit out / testing / civil work

2026

• Operational

You may have already seen this info but I thought it is worth posting for wider distribution.

This link gives details of upcoming work near us.  This is preparatory work for the Metro Rail project.  It is not mentioned in this but I also understand some major work will also occur in Bowen Crescent.

Metro Rail have issued this short video to explain what is intended to happen with the various tram routes.  See it here 

Metro Rail are making their final submission tomorrow – here is a copy of it.

mmra-iac-closing-submissions-7-10-2016

Covers their position on moving the Domain station, doing cavern vs cut and cover, S Yarra Station…..

Happy reading – feel free to hear it in person at the Mercure Hotel in Spring St at 10am

Metro Rail have just released this document – it answers questions from the panel on whether the rail tunnel will go under or over the CityLink tunnel….and about the tree replacement.

Not yet a done deal but this sounds much better than before!!  I have asked that it is tightened a bit further so that we don’t have demarcation between City of Melbourne and City of Port Phillip.  I’d hate to see one side flourishing and the other side struggling.

The tree info is in the second part of this document

065-rfi-12-9-16-i-domain-parklands-and-st-kilda-rd-boulevard

I’ve been away for a week and so I thought I’d better give everyone a quick update.

As I mentioned in my last update – the Botanica submission went in and seemed to be well received.  Since then there have been a number of other submissions.

Probably the most interesting was one recommending that the station is located nearer the city, on the eastern side of St Kilda Rd near the Shrine.  This would be MUCH better for us but my reading of the tea-leaves is that this is unlikely – possible but unlikely.

It is worth remembering something that our barrister told me several times, all submissions are based on their merit – it does not matter if it is mentioned once or a hundred times, once is enough.  So it will be considered and we do not need to say anything additional.

At the AGM I mentioned that one of the key documents is something called the EPR’s.  These form the basis of the contract with the tunneling companies and so are fundamental.  A new version was released on Monday and the panel has asked for feedback.  We will be submitting feedback if our domain experts deem it necessary.  You will see that one of our experts (Terry Bellair) has already had a lot of his comments added to the document.  You can see the full document if you click on the link below

mm-environmental-performance-requirements_iac-revision-3_trackedchanges

Well after many months of work – our day arrived today and “we” presented the Botanica submission to the Metro Rail Panel.  I have attached our outline and the PowerPoint pack that one of our experts used.

Many thanks to the support from Jan, Jane, Jan, Alex, Veronica and Sandy.

It was a very long day (9am – 6pm) and all focused on Domain precinct.  By the end of the day I was really pleased with our team of experts, lawyers and barrister.  The issues we wanted raised were raised, our experts were subjected to intense cross examination…and survived …we were heard and listed to.

Well done Paul, Nick, John, Terry and Neville.

I have to add that the ‘noise guy’ for Domain was good but struggled badly under the cross examination.  Also the planning guy for G12 / Domain was very disappointing.  He didn’t understand the process and had not done sufficient work – it was clear to me and VERY clear to the panel.

Now we sit back and wait…well for a couple of weeks

16-09-16_draft-outline-of-submissions-botanica-owners-corporation-v1

400-stkilda-road-mmees

The National Trust also presented yesterday – their report is attached.

My main take aways from that session were

• They feel very strongly that the new tunnel must go under the Citylink road tunnel (that crosses under St Kilda Rd near the Melbournian).
• They feel very strongly about the trees and made several very well reasoned arguments.  But they accept some will/should go and work must go into replacements.  They even said that the value of the trees is much higher than replacement trees and that Metro Rail should provide funding for extra amenities to compensate.
• 157-national-trust-submission-in-chief-to-ees-hearing

George Swinburne (Jan’s cousin) made the attached presentation yesterday on behalf of himself and the Hallmark OC.  Covers a lot of issues that we have in common.  158-submission-to-advisory-committee-on-behalf-of-the-hallmark-and-gg-and-mj-swinburne-19-sept-2016

It is worth noting that it has been emphasized several times that having the same issue raised multiple times does not change the value of the argument – if it is a good idea mentioned by just one submitter then it will be considered.

This presentation was made a few days back and reported fairly widely, but the actual document has only been released today, worth rreading.155-city-of-port-phillip-additional-documents