STATE ELECTION 2022
Huge rail announcements before state election Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au THE Victorian Liberals have promised to extend the Frankston train line to Baxter if successful at next month’s state election. The state opposition says it will electrify and duplicate the Stony Point line to Baxter. Two new stations would be built at Langwarrin and Frankston East. Six level crossings would be removed and both Frankston and Baxter Stations would be upgraded for the project. The state opposition says the project would be delivered in the next four years at a cost of $971 million. A business case assessing the project released in 2020 revealed that it could cost $1.5 billion to extend the train line to Baxter (“Business case casts
doubt on rail extension” The Times 16/11/20). Liberal candidate for Frankston Michael O’Reilly said the extension of the train line is “so long overdue”. “This doesn’t just extend the train line, but it actually gets people out of cars. One of the biggest issues we have in Frankston is congestion in the CBD and a lack of parking at Frankston Train Station which is right at the end of the line,” he said. “This extension will not only service the hospital and the university, but it will also help kids get to major sporting infrastructures that will be underway soon.” Last weekend the state government committed to making the Frankston line level crossing free by 2029. Level crossings will be removed from Wickham Road and Highett Road in Highett, McDonald Street and Bear Street in Mordialloc, Station Street and Groves Street in Aspendale,
Armstrongs Road and Station Street in Seaford, and on Latrobe Street in Mentone. The state government is planning to build rail over road at Armstrongs Road and Station Street in Seaford. New stations at Highett, Mordialloc, Aspendale, and Seaford will be built as part of the project. A report released by the McKell Institute ranked Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula as the areas with the lowest percentage of public transport use compared to private vehicle use. Committee for Greater Frankston president Rod Evenden said “coming second-last and last on the public transport ladder is appalling but not surprising. For instance, everyone knows the present train service from Stony Point to Frankston, which is supposed to service Langwarrin and Karingal, is infrequent and notoriously unreliable”. THE state opposition will electrify part of the Stony Point line. Picture: Gary Sissons
CONCEPT plans for the Frankston Basketball Stadium upgrade. Picture: Supplied
Seaford stadium set for big upgrade THE redevelopment of the Frankston Basketball Stadium looks certain to proceed. Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke confirmed the state government’s support for the upgrade last month. The state opposition will make a funding promise imminently, The Times understands. The federal government and Frankston Council have both committed $15 million to the project, meaning it is now expected to go ahead. Edbrooke said in his announcement “we’ll invest up to $15 million towards the redevelopment of the Frankston & District Basketball Association’s stadium in Seaford, delivering new facilities that the whole community can be proud of. I’m so thrilled to be able to provide this funding and deliver facilities that our community deserves. This funding will help keep our kids active and engaged through a re-developed stadium that the whole community can be proud of.
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“A huge thank you to Frankston Basketball, FDBA CEO Wayne Holdsworth and his team, the FDBA family and our community who fought a long battle to get to this fantastic outcome,” Edbrooke said. The stadium redevelopment has been a long running saga. In 2018, a planned upgrade to the stadium was abandoned and ratepayer funding for the project was diverted elsewhere after negotiations between FDBA and Frankston Council collapsed. Frankston councillor Kris Bolam was sitting on council during the previous failed attempt to redevelop the site. He said “This time around there is a legitimate sense of trust between council and the FDBA. The scale of the redevelopment is much broader and thankfully we’ll also have the new multi-deck facility next door which will address any parking issues. It’s a clearer and more cohesive proposition than the previous iteration.” Brodie Cowburn
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11 October 2022
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