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North Sydney mayor calls for halt to tunnels development – North Sydney Sun

North Sydney mayor calls for halt to tunnels development

North Sydney mayor Zoe Baker has called for a “halt, review and reassessment” of the State government’s road tunnel developments in North Sydney and Cammeray. Speaking at a rally in Cammeray last weekend attended by 220 residents, Baker said: “The time has come for us to stop being so polite. We have to act fiercely to protect our environment and to do so we have to strongly hold this state government to account. It’s too easy for us to despair and to give up in the face of this wholesale destruction of our parks and community lands, but we cannot do that.” Baker added: “We have nothing to lose and we have everything to gain. It’s a war of attrition. We may have lost the battle for these 655 trees on Cammeray Park, but we have to fight on in order to ensure that the long-term impacts of these projects, in terms of air pollution and permanent loss of public open space, are avoided.”

Independent candidate for the state seat of Willoughby Larissa Penn also addressed the rally, questioning why there was a need for the tunnels when the state government was already building a Metro rail line under the harbour and up the North Shore. “It’s not all doom and gloom. There are things that should be done and could be done by the government, following their own principles in fact. Every major project should be subject to a business case and a cost-benefit ratio and principles of fiscal accountability and transparency. So, the government under their own principles should be reassessing this project, everything has changed.” She said that with Metro going along the same corridor as the Western Harbour Tunnel there was no need for both builds to cover the same area. “Infrastructure Australia pulled out of supporting this project. Infrastructure New South Wales have said not just to reprioritise projects, but to reassess need. Everything has changed,” she said.

Penn has registered as a candidate for the March general election after nearly pulling off a victory in this year’s by-election.