Voters given wall of silence

By Jim Mynard
PRIMARY candidates for Narre Warren South in Saturday’s State Election have left Beaconsfield residents for dead over protective noise barriers along the Monash Freeway.
Labor candidate Judith Graley said on Monday that she had nothing to report on the status of the noise barriers, but would check with head office.
By press time she had made no further comment.
And Liberal candidate Michael Shepherdson said he was unable to make a commitment.
Both had agreed during a public meeting on Wednesday 1 November that a serious noise problem existed for residents along the freeway, but remained quiet on the issue.
Mr Shepherdson said he discussed the matter with the Liberal spokesman on roads, Terry Mulder, but was unable to give any assurances of what would happen.
“I realise the barriers should have been built once development started in the area and I can’t make excuses for that.
“Terry Mulder has accepted that we have a noise problem.
“I will be able to make bigger noises about the issue if I get into parliament.
“Whatever the result of the election, I am sure we will have a tighter parliament.
“Labor will not have the large majority it now has.
“If we get in I will be in a position to lobby much more during the first session,” he said.
Beaconsfield in Casey Residents Action Group (BICRAG)spokesman Ray Fleming said his group was disappointed with the response.
He warned that BICRAG was now so frustrated that it may take a class action against the government or VicRoads over the lack of noise protection.
“If this was an industrial area people would not be allowed to work at the noise level we experience,” he said.
Mr Fleming said Beaconsfield residents were seeing barriers erected in other areas with less noise concerns and out of turn.
“Political parties do not realise that we have a larger population here than they think and that we have a lot of swinging voters.
“Many of those voters are disenchanted with what is happening to us,” he said.
He said the Narre Warren South area had not had effective representation, despite promises before the last election that the noise barriers would be built.