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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-05-14 Daily Xml
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GALLIPOLI UNDERPASS

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (14:44): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Transport a question about the Gallipoli Underpass.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY: In the past few days, I have been contacted by several businesses located on the corner of Anzac Highway and South Road who are extremely distraught about the loss of access to their businesses due to the opening of the Gallipoli Underpass and subsequent works. In spite of the department's best attempts, access to their premises is, at best, negligible. The owners and I are not convinced that the solutions proposed will eliminate problems in the future.

These businesses have been calling for their properties to be compulsorily acquired and compensation paid ever since they were notified of the proposal to build the underpass, but their calls have fallen on deaf ears. One business owner received an email from AdelaideConnect, the contractors who built the underpass, stating that they would be updated weekly about the progress of the roadworks. This is cold comfort to businesses that, in some cases, have very few customers and no sales since the underpass was opened. I note that the AdelaideConnect website says that it will be business as usual for owners throughout the construction phase.

My feedback has been that it has been anything but business as usual. Neither the company nor the government has worked closely with businesses to resolve any of the issues they raised. I understand that no compensation is payable where no land is acquired. Past experience has shown that governments of both political persuasions have anticipated these types of problems and have compulsorily acquired adjacent problem sites, completed the infrastructure development, including remedial works, and then resold residual land for appropriate development. My questions are:

1. Will the government take responsibility for working with businesses to come to a mutually agreed solution to their loss of business?

2. Does the government concede that the original acquisition process was flawed in that the properties in question should have been acquired well before works commenced on the underpass, as has occurred with previous projects, so that the land could be sold off and a development appropriate to the changed traffic conditions could be constructed?

3. Given the severe downturn in business, almost to the point of non-existence experienced by owners, will the government now offer to acquire the properties and compensate businesses for their loss of trade under the Metropolitan Road Widening Scheme so that businesses can continue to contribute to the state's economy or, at the very least, compensate them for their loss of business, thus enabling the site to be properly developed, taking into account the traffic movements?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (14:47): I thank the honourable member for his most important questions and will refer them to the Minister for Transport in another place and bring back a response.

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