ABC Radio Adelaide:
A planned tunnel project underneath Adelaide's South Road aims to ease congestion and minimise the number of homes demolished by taking construction underground.
But residents say they've been left in limbo, unsure if their home will be compulsorily acquired to make way for the project.
David Bevan spoke with former Department of Transport and Infrastructure executive Luigi Rossi, Labor MP Jayne Stinson and local resident Patricia, who's lived in the area for 40 years.
Duration: 7min 56sec
Broadcast: Thu 5 Aug 2021, 8:30am
Transcript of the above audio can be found below:
Luigi Rossi, Luigi Rossi & Associates [& Callers, texts] (ABC RADIO ADELAIDE 9.35-9.52) Community forum held to discuss footprints of new South Road tunnels
(David Bevan: The argument … is that if we have two rally big tunnels underneath South Road, there won't be so much property acquired … also it won’t divide the west and the eastern suburbs … we’ve had bit infrastructure projects along South Road, sometimes it can cut off huge swathes of suburbs from other suburbs … a concrete wall between communities. So that’s the idea behind the tunnels but … you have got to get in … out … and around the tunnel if you don't want to go in the tunnel and that means there will be a footprint. To try and get their heads around this, a forum was organised last night … one of the people who addressed the meeting was Luigi Rossi. He’s a former Executive with the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure … he spoke to the meeting. Good morning Luigi … what was your impression and what did you tell the people at this meeting last night regarding the entry and exit points of these tunnels, what should they be prepared for?) Well I think the Department has put out information regarding the approximate location of where the tunnels are, and they’ve also indicated quite clearly on their brochures that there will be significant room required to accommodate the tunnel entrance and tunnel exits. You have got to appreciate you’ve got to get three lanes into the tunnel and three lanes have got to come out of the tunnel at both ends. So that requires a certain amount of space … it’s important to keep the local traffic access arrangements in place and therefore you then need to provide two lanes either side of the tunnel to accommodate the local needs of the community and businesses and so if you go onto the Departments website you will see that sort of configuration. The issue at the moment is that they are still working through with the reference design to determine the specificity of all the details that’s involved in such a complex job. (Bevan: Labor’s Shadow Transport Minister, Tom Koutsantonis he tweeted that up to ten lanes of road will be needed at each end of the tunnels. Is that right?) Yes, that’s correct, but that’s nothing unusual or new. If you go to have a look at the ... recently completed section of the section from River Torrens to Torrens Road you’ll see exactly that ... that is that you’ve got six lanes, three lanes in each direction in the lowered motorway and then you’ve got two lanes either side at the ground floor level to accommodate the local residents ... basically 10 lanes of traffic. (Bevan: Oh okay, I got the impression from his Tweet it’d be 10 lanes plus two lanes each way for motorists, but you reckon it’s 10 lanes in total.) 10 lanes in total ... three lanes each way for the tunnel and then two lanes either side ... at some locations because of local movements or local arrangements, for instance I mean one area which hasn’t yet been finalised is around the Cross Road ... there’s a tunnel exit/entry point between Cross Roads and the Glandore overpass, the tram underpass and so there might be some additional requirements there ... then you’ve got the noise walls also too that you need to accommodate, so there’s a bit more space ... then ... the walk-in ... so in addition to the traffic lanes themselves there might be some amenity requirements, particularly noise walls will be required where the road is either lowered or at grade; you’ve got to deal with the noise, so that requires a bit more footprint. (Bevan: ... is it clear where these entry and exit points will be ... do we have a pretty good handle now on how much property is going to need to be acquired?) Well look, I’m not involved in the design of it ... the Government has announced that I think there’s about 390 properties to be acquired ... they are working through the reference designs which will actually determine the ... entry and exit points of the tunnel, the location of the lowered road, sections of lowered motorway, like the River Torrens to Torrens Road section, so people can get a good impression of that ... then there’s at grade sections as well ... then you’ve got interaction at Richmond Road and James Cogden Road and Sir Donald Bradman Road that’s got to be factored in ... there is a team, a very experienced team working on this and I’d imagine that soon there might be some more clarity around the exact location of things. (Bevan: Phil joins us now ... were you at the meeting last night?) (Caller Phil: No, I wasn’t. I was required to attend a reference group meeting.) (Bevan: And what’s your situation here, do you have a property that’s near these proposed tunnels?) (Caller Philip: Yeah so my home sits approximately 50m from South Road in one of the streets close to the Glenelg tram line overpass and this is roughly the area considered for the northern exit of the southern tunnel.) (Bevan: What do you think is going to happen to your house?) (Caller Philip: In truth we don't know and uncertainty is a part of life but it is difficult when the uncertainty surrounds your home and trying to take the emotion out of it but the reality is this is a home that my wife and I have lived in for 16 years and renovated and raised our children in so it is just a house at the end of the day but it’s not a nice feeling when you are not sure whether you should spend any money on it or not or just sit tight and wait to hear.) (Bevan: Are you able to get a straight answer from the department ...?) (Caller Philip: No they are unable to give us that at this point.) (Bevan: Patricia … hello … were you at the meeting last night?) (Caller Patricia: Yes I was … I went to the forum that was organised by Jayne Stinson.) (Bevan: What did you think …?) (Caller Patricia: The information given was very good but up to that point there was just no knowledge no information and after all this is our home … it’s where we laid down our roots and this is where we live and we have been given no information whatsoever about what’s happening and basically if you live in the area and I live in Glandore, you life is on hold because you don't know what you can do, how you can do it or when you can do it. Because we have been given no information and last night was the first time that information was given to us and even then there is a whole load of ambiguity about it because there has been no information forthcoming from the Government. … it’s very emotive thinking about that I might have to relocate after being near 40 years in the suburb and how all this legal stuff that has to be dealt with and my concern is going out to the people that could be roughshod over by the compulsory purchasing. A lot of people don't have a lot of people to stand up and be counted for them. There is a whole load of themes going through but last night we did get some good information. But even then as I said, the ambiguity about the whole procedure, all we know is that it’s going to be 390 properties who, what where and when? Everybody needs answers so we can plan our life accordingly.) (Bevan: … who is going to want to buy a place that could be knocked over in a year?) (Caller Patricia: Exactly … you don't know what’s going to happen … that’s a whole new thing for people to deal with …) (Bevan: … I wonder … whether it would be possible for the Government to appoint an independent advocate for the businesses and the householders who will be affected by this … some people are going to be able to look after themselves and defend their rights better than others.) (Caller Patricia: they don't have anybody to step up and speak for them so it’s a great concern for the whole area and for everybody. We are not just numbers. We are people.)
Jayne Stinson, Member for Badcoe (ABC RADIO ADELAIDE 9.46-9.49) Community forum held to discuss footprints of new South Road tunnels
(Bevan: Lets go to Jayne Stinson, she organised this forum last night, she is the local MP. Good morning Jayne Stinson … so the people in the area … is there a point where we have got to cut the Government some slack, they know what they are going to do but they don't exactly know where they are going to be drilling the hole and so there is an ambiguity here and that’s just unavoidable.) Well I think the think that I’m calling for and the thing that my community is saying to me is that it’s just been quite a long time now so November last year was when the Government said we are going to be building this thing, now we are being told it’s going to be December so more than a year by the time people get their land acquisition letters and there is even a bit of doubt over that. So what that means for people is, I have got people who are retirees, people who have just bought homes … people who are halfway through renovating and they don't know whether to finish those things because they don't know whether their land is going to be taken. People who are enrolling kids in school and don't know if their child is actually going to be finishing their primary school education at that school because they don't know if they are going to be living there. There is a lot of concern, property prices are rising in our area and people do want to stay in that area and they are just not sure if they are going to be able to so certainly my community is pretty anxious and pretty stressed out at the moment and just wants some answers. So that’s the whole reason why I decided to organise the forum last night. We got Luigi along who has got 35 years’ experience and has managed most of the rest of the North South corridor projects and also the Matti Lamb and Associates legal team who specialist in land acquisition and they were really helpful as well. I think it did provide a bit of extra assistance to people in my community but the truth is of course until the Government releases the reference design and tells us where these 330 odd properties are going to be compulsorily acquired, obviously there is only so much information that I can assist them in getting. But you know there is bipartisan support and people in my community support the project going ahead but my community is the bit that doesn’t get a tunnel, we have got the sunken roadway and that comes with a lot of emotion and there were a few tears last night as well as people told their stories about the fact that as Patricia said it’s not just a building, it’s not just a plot of land it’s a home and it’s filled with memories and that really needs to be dealt with sensitively and people need to know what’s going on sooner rather than later.
Back to Luigi Rossi
(Bevan: Lets go back to Luigi Rossi, Luigi you spent 35 years working with this department, is there an advocate, an independent advocate provided to people whose properties are being compulsorily acquired?) Well the Act allows for each property owner to seek their own legal advice and valuation advice which is covered for under the Act so everyone is entitled to get profession advice to help them deal with, it is a very stressful and emotional time. (Bevan: Does the Government pick up the bill?) Yes, they do yes. Boundaries are put in around the legal fees in particular but there is a [unclear] there. I think the issue that at hand is that some people who are elderly would find it even more stressful and so the notion of maybe another person to help them through this is something worth them maybe considering, but each person is entitled to appropriate and professional advice of the system through this process and help them deal with it, there is even counselling services that are on offer to help them through this situation. The department has offered that previously to help people in terms of these difficult times. It is a case of obviously … the person being able to understand what is available and what is on offer and what they can do. The other thing is the journey to help them through this … what can be done, especially if someone is elderly. (Bevan: Luigi Rossi thank you for your time … lots of texts coming through, somebody says, ‘Can you imagine the anxiety and stress levels these poor people are going through’. Somebody else says, ‘I was at that meeting last night and Patricia really was quite upset, understandably so and she is sounding better today.’ This person says they found the meeting very informative. They didn’t have a clue about the Cross Road/South Road ambiguities until last night.)