Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the electorate of Dunkley I try to encapsulate my advocacy as positive, passionate and persistent. I am afraid that we need all of those characteristics when tackling some of the enduring issues of the Dunkley electorate. How many times do we have to raise the noise problems associated with the construction of EastLink where it intersects with the Frankston Freeway, and get VicRoads to do something to let those residents have a decent night’s sleep?

I have raised this issue many times over a number of years, and we still see no activity. I was optimistic that the state Labor member may have been able to take this seriously and get some action under either the Brumby or Bracks governments, but, alas, nothing happened. Now we have a change of government in Victoria, and I am optimistic that the new Baillieu government will take these noise concerns quite seriously.

When you look at this intersection, there has been an additional lane built adjacent to these people’s homes. But somehow it has been designated as if there has been no new work carried out. This issue about new work matters because there are different noise tolerance levels for existing freeways compared to newly constructed freeways. And in the Peterson Street area of the Frankston Freeway, one of the things that frustrates them is that there have been noise readings taken that have exceeded noise levels for both existing freeways and newly constructed freeways, but alas no sound barriers. Why? Apparently the wind was blowing the wrong way. So the noise was going into their homes because the wind was blowing the wrong way, but still no action. We need to give people living adjacent to the freeway the chance to have a decent night’s sleep, and I will keep working at that objective.