By Karen Poh
IF ALL goes well, the new Watergardens railway station car park on Sydenham Rd will open by the end of September.
It’s been a year since the old station car park closed for construction work to make way for a new 450-space car park with a new stormwater drainage system, street lighting, and an upgraded footpath between Sydenham Rd and Silverdene Ave.
When Star contacted authorities last month, the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) and the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) said delays were due to concerns about environmental health and safety.
The car park was a former quarry site which needed rehabilitation and remediation.
DOI spokeswoman Amanda Lindsay said environmental audits of the site were under way.
“We were in the process of engaging an environmental auditor in conjunction with the EPA (in July),” she said.
“Now, that audit is underway, and it’s going to be complete in between six to eight weeks time.
“So if all goes well, depending on the results … the car park will be open by the end of September,” Ms Lindsay said.
But Brimbank City councillor Natalie Suleyman said the extended delays had left residents angry and disgruntled.
“I’ve been at the station for the last fortnight, most Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings, speaking to commuters as they come out from the station,” she said.
“The one message that is coming out from the residents is that it would’ve been good if someone just told us what was happening.
“Back in February, the media and myself were advised that the car park would be opened in the next couple of weeks, and then the next couple of weeks it was another couple of weeks.
“There has also been a petition circling around and I know that residents are very disappointed,” Cr Suleyman said.
While a temporary car park was opened north of Watergardens station next to the Watergardens Shopping Centre, Hillside resident Shane Milverton said security and potholes had been an ongoing concern for car park users.
“The potholes at the entrance to the temporary car park continue to grow,” Mr Milverton said.
“So much so that my little Ford Festiva almost fits inside the biggest one.
“This causes the car to scrape when entering.”
Last month, the indicators of the Milvertons’ Holden Statesman were “ripped out” while parked in the temporary station car park.
The extended delays have also greatly inconvenienced residents who don’t drive, Cr Suleyman said.
“(It’s) disrupted a lot of pedestrian movement and access from the station,” she said.
“So it’s not just the inconvenience of the car park but also a major laneway which is accessed through the car park to thousands of homes.”
But despite the car park closure, residents have carved a way out for themselves, Cr Suleyman said.
Last week she noticed some train commuters climbing through a hole in the fence to access the “Silverdene Ave laneway”, she said.
But albeit the long delay, car park user Sue Milverton said it was good to finally get some answers.
“That’s great news … that’s going to be a wonderful thing, to just know that we’ve got some decisions there and that we now know that it will be open,” she said.
