5 July 2021
Reporting period: 18 May 2020 to 18 May 2021
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Summary of document
This compliance report covers the reporting period between 18 May 2020 and 18 May 2021. The purpose of this report is to document compliance with the conditions for the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) Approval 2018/8142 Condition 12. Details of compliance are provided, and where appropriate, the timing of completion of individual actions is identified.
The key dates that relate to the approval are detailed in Table 1, download the report to find out more.
The map as presented in the Variation to Approval 2018/8142 is available in Attachment A.
| Action | Key date |
|---|---|
| Commonwealth Approval | 12/12/2019 |
| Commonwealth Variation Approval | 28/08/2020 |
| Commencement of the action | 18/05/2020 |
| Expiry of Commonwealth approval | 03/10/2039 |
Description of activities
Overview of project
The North East Link Project (NELP) (a division of the Major Transport Infrastructure Authority (MTIA)), on behalf of the Victorian State government, is currently constructing the North East Link (NEL) project (referred to herein as ‘the Project’). The NEL is a new freeway-standard road connection to the north-east of the Melbourne Central Business District that would complete Melbourne’s ring road. Specifically, the NEL will connect the Metropolitan Ring Road (M80) to the Eastern Freeway and includes works along the Eastern Freeway from near Hoddle Street to Springvale Road.
The Project has been broken down into phases to allow seamless delivery. The initial phase - Early Works - allows for utilities and secondary infrastructure to be prepared prior to the major development. Works include the relocation of utilities, relocation of Sports and Recreation spaces and development of Park and Ride services for Public Transport linkages. The following phases - Primary Package, and Secondary Packages - are the divisions of the road connections relevant to the development and construction of the tunnel, and interchanges with the M80 and Eastern Freeway and ancillary works respectively.
Works undertaken during current reporting period
The following works have been undertaken in the approval area during the 2020-2021 reporting period:
Early Works
- Utilities relocations
- Power utilities relocations along Lower Plenty Road and Greensborough Road
- Communications utilities relocation along Lower Plenty Road and Greensborough Road
- Gas transmission main relocations along Greensborough Road and Lower Plenty Road
- A number of utilities relocations works at Borlase Reserve, Yallambie including sewer reticulation, water mains, a pressure reducing station and Banyule Creek temporary diversion
- Replacement of a sewer main – YEMS
- Water mains replacement under the Eastern Freeway at Balwyn North at Koonung Creek
- Power relocations in the northern zone at Watsonia and Greensborough Road
- Communications utilities around the northern zone at Greensborough Road
- Ford Park Sport Ground Upgrades - upgrade to turf with drainage, new pavilions, lighting, car parking, players shelters, spectator facilities, running track, fencing, demolition of decommissioned buildings and redundant infrastructure
- Bulleen Park and Ride - New premium bus station incorporating multi-level carpark, bus interchange, road network improvements and a public open space ‘green roof’.
- Simpson Barracks transfer of land - tree and vegetation clearing, erection of perimeter fence and fire/patrol roads (hardstand), construction of new buildings, demolition of decommissioned buildings, network communications
- Jemena Zone Substation - design and construct a Zone Substation to supply construction power for the North East Link tunnel boring machines.
Approval conditions compliance
Refer to page 7-28 in the report for details.
New environmental risks
At this stage of the project, no new environmental risks have been identified. This is the first compliance report for the project and the scale of works required to relocate utilities ahead of the NEL Primary and Secondary packages are relatively minor by comparison to the broader project. Project environmental risks are currently managed through NELP’s Early Works Contractor’s ISO 14001-compliant environmental management systems.