Plan to stay under wraps
Wednesday 9 April, 2008 2:00pm
DOCUMENTS relating to the Victoria Rd upgrade and M4 East plans are being kept secret by the State Government a decision recently upheld by an independent legal arbiter.
The Greens had called upon Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal to release documents relating to the widening of Iron Cove Bridge and the M4 East, to allow public scrutiny of traffic modelling and general debate.
Mr Roozendaal blocked the release of the documents in the Upper House, claiming they were privileged government documents.
Mr Roozendaal's decision was supported by independent legal arbiter Sir Laurence Street who agreed the papers were preliminary planning documents only, which did not warrant release in the public interest.
In his report on the claim, Sir Laurence declared secrecy could lead to distrust but confirmed the draft and preliminary nature of the documents meant they were captured under the claim of secret privilege made by government.
Sir Laurence had previously presided over the release of the Cross City Tunnel documents which were subject to a similar claim. The Greens, who had initiated Sir Laurence's involvement, expressed disappointment.
Upper House MP Lee Rhiannon said residents were still waiting for the discussion paper on the M4 East which Mr Roozendaal promised by the end of last year.
In the Upper House, MP John Kaye quizzed Mr Roozendaal about project details and asked how an eighth lane could be accommodated on the Iron Cove Bridge when there were now only seven and no median strip.
Mr Kaye asked how a city-bound bus lane could be accommodated on the Darling St corner.
Mr Roozendaal said the work would deliver a 3.5 km city-bound bus lane and a tidal flow through Drummoyne and Rozelle similar to the peak-hour lane changes on the Harbour Bridge.
"By removing the choke points and providing dedicated bus lanes on the busiest sections of Victoria Rd bus travel times are expected to improve by up to eight minutes," he said.
"The government is serious about addressing urban congestion and will implement our plans, such as the Victoria Rd upgrade and the northwest metro, to provide the city with a better public transport system."
