Yahoo Finance 116 properties to be demolished for new Sydney metro: Are you in the firing line?
The NSW Government has confirmed the seven new train stops for the new Central Sydney to Parramatta metro line, which means 116 properties will be forcibly demolished.
The locations of seven proposed metro stations have been confirmed at Westmead, Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park, North Strathfield, Burwood North, Five Dock and the Bays Precinct, and possibly Rydalmere and Pyrmont.
To build the project, the government will need to acquire 93 business and 23 residential properties, with initial work to begin next year in the Bays Precinct.
Also read: NSW Premier orders review into minister’s link to $70m property
Also read: Minister Sidoti 'big winner' on Metro
“The Western Sydney Metro will fundamentally change how we get around our city for generations to come, connecting Greater Parramatta and the Sydney CBD with fast, safe and reliable metro rail,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in a statement.
“We’ve successfully delivered the North West Metro Line early and $1 billion under budget, the next line from Chatswood to Sydnenham and Bankstown is on track to open in 2024, and now the next Metro project is underway.”
Minister for Transport Andrew Constance said the new metro would more than double the existing rail capacity between Greater Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, and slash travel times by 20 minutes.
Constance said the project would also create around 10,000 direct jobs and 70,000 indirect jobs.
NSW Sports Minister a ‘big winner’
While 23 Sydney residents will be forced to give up their homes, one politician could stand to make a profit from his.
NSW Sports Minister John Sidoti has interests in two properties close to the site of a proposed station on Great North Road at Five Dock – one of seven along the new underground line.
In his first budget hearing, Sidoti was forced to answer questions about whether he knew train stations were going to be built near properties he’d purchased, and whether he’d used that information for personal gain.
“There's such an obvious conflict of interest, how could you not understand that,” Greens MP David Shoebridge said at the time.
Labor has called for Sidoti’s salary to be stopped, and called him the “big winner” from the announcement on the new stations.
"It's time to end this farce," NSW Labor Leader Jodi McKay said in a statement released after the government announced the station locations.
"Mr Sidoti's ministerial salary must be terminated."
NSW Premier Gladys Bereijklian has ordered a review into the matter.
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