The North East Link Project recently claimed it was creating large areas of new open space, in fact the equivalent of 50 Melbourne Cricket Grounds.
The claim was included in the Project’s public information sheet, entitled “Trees and vegetation,” which was published in July.
The North East Link Project has now withdrawn the claim that there is to be 50 MCG’s worth of new open space.
We don’t actually know how much open space is proposed for the project. And we don’t know how much space we currently have, that may be absorbed by the project.
The North East Link Project says it is now working on these important questions.
However, we do know from historical experience that freeway construction always leads to the loss of space previously assigned to other purposes, including as open space. This is due to the fact that motor vehicles are a very space inefficient form of transport, relative to public transport, cycling and walking.