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Residents living near the North East Link construction have slammed the project for backing out of a promise to reopen a key road, saying it leaves their community vulnerable during bushfires and medical emergencies.
An 85-metre section of Borlase Street in Yallambie, in Melbourne’s north-east, was closed in mid-2022 to help facilitate construction of the major infrastructure project, with locals told the street would reopen after six years.
But in February 2023, Victorian Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny endorsed new plans that made the closure permanent. The change left approximately 80 houses in the area with a single access point to Lower Plenty Road and sparked concerns about emergency and evacuation access.
Resident Narelle Lawton, who has lived in the area for over 20 years, says her community is desperate to have the road reinstated.
“It’s caused years of stress … it’s just been a constant battle. But this road is significant,” she said. “I really do worry that if there was a medical emergency … or there was a bushfire, that people’s lives would be lost.”
Particularly of concern to residents is the fact that sections of Kay Court, Fahey Crescent and Amanda Court in Yallambie – which are all impacted by the road closure – are in a designated bushfire-prone area. Houses in this category have been flagged by the state government as likely to be subject to fires.
Emergency service access to the estate also poses an issue. In February 2025, when a truck rolled over at the nearby intersection of Lower Plenty Road and the Greensborough Highway, Lawton said an ambulance was unable to access the estate to attend to an ill resident.
“Luckily, it wasn’t a life-threatening illness that the ambulance was coming for. But they actually couldn’t get in,” she said.
A spokesperson from the North East Link project said updated plans displaying the Borlase Street closure had been publicly advertised, and that its removal allowed more space for Banyule Creek, wetlands and parkland.
Traffic modelling and road safety assessments were both undertaken to ensure that access is adequate, the spokesperson said.
“We will continue to work closely with residents and to support them throughout works, as well as stakeholders including emergency services and local councils,” they said.
Resident Amy McKellar, who also lives in the impacted neighbourhood, said she had grown frustrated with the community consultation process and felt her perspective had not been properly considered.
“Their responses are [such] PR marketing, they’re not actually addressing the questions that we have,” McKellar said of her correspondence with North East Link.
“This has been the biggest drain of our lives … the amount of admin burden they put on us … it’s almost like they want us to get worn out so that we just give up.”
The project’s construction has faced wider criticism over its impact on Melbourne’s north-eastern suburbs. In January, a large sinkhole opened at a Heidelberg sporting oval, with an investigation showing that the incident was caused by tunnel boring.
In July, dust suppressant from the project turned Banyule Creek bright blue, and more recently, North East Link quietly scrapped a promised wildlife crossing under a busy road in Rosanna.
The accumulation of incidents was criticised at a Banyule City Council meeting on February 9, where councillor Matt Wood said the community had a “real trust issue” with the road project.
“Laws were passed to allow these big projects just to go on, but they’re pushing on without any regard with what’s happening in and around,” Wood told The Age.
He said that the council had only had limited consultation with the North East Link and that they were yet to receive any traffic survey data concerning the road closure in Yallambie.
Councillors voted to formally request access to the detailed data at their most recent meeting, and passed a separate motion to request increased health testing by the Environmental Protection Agency in the area.
“When the project’s finished in three or four years, everyone will pack up and leave, and it’ll be the residents and council that are left with the impacts,” Wood said.
“I’m absolutely supportive of the project. It’s going to bring great outcomes for our city. But it’s these indiscriminate impacts that we’re seeing … that need to be called out and managed appropriately.”
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