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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-06-04 Daily Xml
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MILLSWOOD RAILWAY STATION

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:44): The campaign has begun again in Ashford, and in this case I refer to the campaign to reopen the Millswood railway station. The station was closed in 1995 despite strong opposition from residents, commuters and also businesses. The then Liberal government would not listen to the community.

Ashford is awash with change—five infrastructure projects—and the recent confirmation of the development of the Wayville railway project, reported via the Public Works Committee, is certainly a welcome initiative. Even so, the Millswood railway station is on the Adelaide to Belair railway line and 5.9 kilometres from the Adelaide Railway Station. The Goodwood Railway Station, I am told, is five kilometres from the Adelaide Railway Station and the Unley Park station is seven kilometres. I am also told that trains stopping at the Millswood railway station would add less than one minute to the total journey time between Adelaide and Belair.

Constituents argue that by opening up this station not only would it assist the local businesses but it would provide access to stations up the line, e.g., Mitcham, Blackwood, Belair, including the State Flora Nursery and the recreational facilities at Belair National Park. In this house, I presented a petition calling on the Rann government to reopen the Millswood railway station mainly from residents who lived in the electorates of Ashford and Unley.

Ashford constituents, especially those living along our five infrastructure projects, have a log of claims for improvements both while the projects are being undertaken and in the aftermath. This list includes proper community consultation, although I must say that things have certainly improved over the past few months in regard to community consultation; it is still not perfect, but it is certainly a big improvement. The list also includes noise, not only now, while the infrastructure projects are happening but also afterwards, when the projects are finished. It also includes vibration problems. As people in this house would know, a big underpass is also being dug at the moment. Traffic management is a real difficulty, particularly with roads being closed and also not having the trains running at the moment.

The list also includes health and safety, especially in regard to soil contamination. Some real concerns have been raised about the fact that rail corridors for the last few decades have used a weedicide that contains arsenic, and this is an issue all around Australia and certainly one that has been raised by local people. It is also includes trees and landscaping, the beautification of the area. One of the things that we would like to see is that the area looks better after these projects are finished.

There is a real call, which I must say I have been very much involved in, for community arts projects so that we do not have just infrastructure but also an opportunity for the community to be involved in things like noise abatement and making the area look a lot greener. Other issues include joined bikeways and pedestrian walkways, lighting and security, and the big issue at the moment in my office is reopening the Millswood railway station.

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