Western Harbour Tunnel
Works notice - Birchgrove Oval
From Thursday 7 April 2022, geotechnical investigations will be carried out at Birchgrove Oval, Birchgrove.
The work is expected to take up to eight days to complete, weather permitting. Work will be carried out during standard construction hours of 7am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays.
Work will involve using a vacuum truck, and a drill mounted rig on a truck to take soil and samples from the ground. Each borehole will be about 100-150mm in diameter.
A section of the fence will be temporarily fenced off during work. Access to the park will be maintained while the investigations take place. Once work is completed, the site will be backfilled and cleaned and grass will be reinstated.
This work may be noisy at times. The NSW Government has stated they will do everything they can to minimise the impact, such as turning off equipment and vehicles when they are not being used.
Western Harbour Tunnel online public meeting, 11 November 2021
The Western Harbour Tunnel project is a disaster for the Inner West. It brings no benefits and significant negative impacts to our local area and we need to do all that we can to stop it.
Concerns about the Western Harbour Tunnel include:
- Dredging contaminated sediment from the harbour floor which will pollute Dawn Fraser Baths and threaten Sydney Harbour’s marine life
- Three unfiltered exhaust stacks linked to WestConnex and the Western Harbour Tunnel, with one located next door to Rozelle Primary School
- Shallow tunnelling under highly valued heritage conservation areas
- Closing Yurulbin Point in Birchgrove to the community for four-and-a-half years
Watch a recording of the meeting
Western Harbour Tunnel public meeting presentation (PDF 1.5MB)
Inquiry into the impact of the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link
The NSW Legislative Council's Public Works Committee invited submissions to an inquiry into the impact of the Western Harbour Tunnel and Beaches Link until 18 June 2021. Council lodged a final version of its submission (PDF 803.2KB) on 18 June 2021 and the Inner West Mayor gave evidence to the Inquiry by video conference on 13 September 2021. All submissions and transcripts of evidence are available on the inquiry website.
Environmental impact statement for Western Harbour Tunnel and Warringah Freeway Upgrade
The EIS for the Western Harbour Tunnel (WHT) and Warringah Freeway Upgrade is on public exhibition from 29 January 2020 to 30 March 2020.
As only the WHT component of the project affects the Inner West Council area, Council’s focus is on the WHT only. Council has prepared its final submission on the WHT Environmental Impact Statement (PDF 352KB), which can be used as a guide for community members to make a submission. It includes a summary of the main issues raised. A final version of the submission will be lodged on the due date.
The Transport for NSW community guide to the EIS, dates for community consultations and other information is available on the Transport for NSW website for this project.
The Transport for NSW Western Harbour Tunnel project team can be contacted on 1800 931 189 or whtbl@transport.nsw.gov.au
The EIS can be viewed and downloaded from the Department of Planning, Industry & Environment’s (DPIE’s) major projects website.
Council submission to Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) on WHT reference design
In November 2018 Council submitted feedback on the Western Harbour Tunnel reference design, outlining the community's concerns on the lack of information on key features of the design, as well as the likely impacts the WHT will have.
More Information
RMS has released a number of informative documents including:
A number of community feedback sessions were conducted at the Balmain Town Hall in May 2017.
For more information, or to have your say on the project, refer to the RMS' Western Harbour Tunnel website.
Meetings
Council staff met with Roads and Maritime Services to discuss the Western Harbour Tunnel. To view the minutes click on the link below;