The first community information and consultation session for the Morley-Ellenbrook Line project has been completed, with WA’s transport minister Rita Saffioti presenting the audience with the results of a recent public survey.
Over 150 people attended the session at Ellenbrook Secondary College theatre, where minister Saffioti also outlined the features and the planning process of the proposed link.
In the survey, completed by 1,927 residents, 82% registered positive feelings towards the project, 77% felt the line had importance for them “personally”, while 86% considered the link an important project for their suburb.
“It is clear from the information session and survey that residents along the future Morley-Ellenbrook Line corridor are excited about this project,” Saffioti said.
“It is the first of many consultations we will be having as this transformative Metronet project continues to develop.
“Starting consultation at this early stage in the project will ensure we end up with a project that the whole community will value and benefit from for many decades to come.”
The top improvements the survey respondents wished to see in their area were the presence of a train line and station, increased availability of public transport and more leisure and entertainment options.
Responding to concerns voiced in the survey about the potential for disruptive noise, Saffioti indicated that the state’s Public Transport Authority (PTA) had been learning how to improve noise reduction during the delivery of the Butler rail extension and the planning previous projects such as the Thornlie-Cockburn Line.
“Our design of the Thornlie-Cockburn Line secures better noise prevention through the matting underneath the rail and other noise-reduction measures. So we’re always learning and improving to make sure that we do what we can to make we address the issue at the planning stage,” she said to the audience.
Regarding station safety, Saffioti said that along with CCTV, it was important the new stations had more activity and interaction.
“[With the new stations] we want to have more interaction with the community. Ellenbrook, in particular, is a huge opportunity, because the construction of the town centre can be finished in conjunction with the station, tailoring the design to enable more interaction more often and offering better passive surveillance.”
Saffioti finished by telling the audience that community consultation was an important part of planning and delivering the project.
“We’re following each step and we want to take the community with us along the way. We want to explain what we’re doing, and we want the you [the community] involved, because we are absolutely passionate about this project,” she said.
“We hope you share our passion. We want to deliver [the Morley-Ellenbrook Line] because it is such a key part of our future.”