Liam McNally
Melton Council is continuing to negotiate the purchase of a key piece of land needed for construction of a new road connecting Thornhill Park to Cobblebank.
More than 500 signatures were added to a petition calling for the road to help ease congestion.
The petition, tabled last July, called on Melton Council and VicRoads to build the road connecting Shogaki Drive to Mount Cottrell Road.
At its meeting on Monday, March 27 council considered a motion to respond to the petition and continue land acquisition discussions with the landowner of 2-82 Shogaki Drive, Cobblebank, to facilitate future construction of the road link from Shogaki Drive to Mount Cottrell Road
The petition stated that with the City of Melton forecast to be bigger than Canberra by 2035 “more vital infrastructure is required“.
“With the nearby Melton Hospital due to begin construction in 2024 and open by 2029 now is the time for this vital project to be started,” it stated.
“Serious congestion and safety issues plague City of Melton roads every single day. For too long the City of Melton has missed out on critical infrastructure investment. Now is the time to invest in main roads to reduce congestion, improve safety and unlock jobs.”
According to a council report, the construction of a road between Shogaki Drive and Mt Cottrell Road would halve the distance it currently takes residents to drive from Thornhill Park to Cobblebank station. At present commuters must use either the Western Freeway or Alfred Road.
Alfred Road is also currently experiencing regular road closures due to ongoing road works.
Councillor Steve Abboushi urged councillors to “really think about supporting” the motion.
“These poor residents in that area right up to Thornhill Park, it is an absolute nightmare and I think it’s time that we did everything we can in our power… to support these residents,” he said.
The land for the proposed road is currently owned by Saizeriya Australia Pty Ltd.
The council report states $1.35 million was earmarked in the 2020/21 budget to acquire land but negotiations remain ongoing.
At the March meeting council’s decision was to continue land acquisition discussions with the landowner to facilitate future construction of the road link.
Council expects negotiations, purchase, and subdivision of the land to take six to 12 months, and construction of the road to take another two years.
If negotiations don’t move forward council can look at compulsorily acquiring the land, which would add about two years to the process.
Saizeriya Australia Pty Ltd was contacted for comment.
