Community members across Melbourne’s east and south east will play a key part in the roll out of Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) East from Cheltenham to Box Hill, as it moves toward the first phase of construction next year. Six Precinct Reference Groups have been established to provide local input into the planning, development and delivery of SRL East.
Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill each have their own reference groups, which will provide a regular and direct platform for information-sharing and community feedback. The first meetings got underway last week and have included the latest SRL updates about the project and upcoming opportunities for community engagement.
SRL is more than a rail line and enhancing and developing the areas around SRL stations is an important part of SRL. SRL Precincts (the 1600m areas around SRL stations) will help reshape Melbourne into a ‘city of centres’ – allowing more people to live near to where they work. By 2056, SRL Precincts from Cheltenham to Melbourne Airport will be home to about 540,000 jobs. Initial Works get underway on SRL East from 2022, delivering up to 800 direct early jobs.
As highlighted in the SRL Business and Investment Case, Melbourne’s population is expected to almost double to around nine million people by 2056 – the size of London today. The new cross-suburb transport connectivity delivered by SRL will attract more businesses and housing to the broader areas around new stations. This creates an important opportunity to work with communities and local governments to carefully plan these precincts, ensuring they are developed with the services, open and public space, and local infrastructure they need to remain great places to live and work.
The advisory groups will meet at least quarterly and include representatives from community and business groups, local councils, institutions such as universities, schools, and hospitals, as well as SRLA (Suburban Rail Loop Authority) and relevant state government agencies.
Precinct Reference Groups build on the extensive community and stakeholder consultation undertaken for SRL since 2019. So far, more than 21,600 people have shared feedback through in-person and online engagement. There will be further opportunities to provide feedback as part of SRL’s Environment Effects Statement (EES) process, with a call-out for public submissions later this year.