A BACCHUS Marsh land owner hopes his offer to donate land will reignite talk about the controversial Woolpack Road extension.
But the Avenue Preservation Group has called on residents and Moorabool council to “get over the plans being rejected’’ and find a better solution.
Council maintains the extension is the most viable solution to providing a north-south alternative route around Bacchus Marsh.
But plans for the extension, which would have involved the removal of five historic elm trees on the Avenue of Honour, were rejected by Planning Minister Matthew Guy on January 26 last year.
VicRoads is yet to settle on an alternative plan to ease traffic woes.
Joseph Erceg, who owns Big River Instant Turf Farm, said if the extension was approved, part of his land would be unsuitable for farming so he was willing to give about 2.8 hectares for VicRoads to work with.
He wants to see a roundabout installed where Woolpack Road meets the Avenue of Honour, leading on to the Western Highway interchange.
Fellow Bacchus Marsh resident Mark Farrell said there remained “widespread support” for the interchange.
“Local people should be making local decisions. They want this road. They deserve to have it fixed.”
Cr Allan Comrie said it “made no sense” for the state government to reject the plans, which were supported by the RSL, and that it needed to “come to its senses”.
Avenue Preservation Group spokesman Damien Strangio said the latest move was the result of the last council “throwing sour grapes and wasting time”, leaving the current council to sort through “not yet perfect” plans.
“They failed to move on, accept the decision and deal with the appropriate bodies.”
Mr Farrell said opposition to the interchange ‘‘because of five trees” was the only reason the government cast aside the cheapest and most direct option.
“The logic is they prefer to have these trees and 600 trucks, in single lanes, go through town daily with the chance of someone getting killed,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s fine for a highway, but when you’re stopping and starting in suburban streets – they go past four schools through town – they’re taking the chance someone’s going to get hit.’’
Mr Strangio said it was misleading to say opposition to the extension was ‘‘about a few trees’’.
“It’s about putting a truck bypass through a war memorial,’’ he said.
‘‘It would cause severe damage to a heritage icon.”
