A major tunnelling site for the WestConnex motorway is likely to be established next to an inner city high school because that would be cheaper than tunnelling from an area currently used for a bottle shop, meeting records show.
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A sliver of land between the Sydney Secondary College Leichhardt Campus, and Sydney Buses' Leichhardt Depot on Derbyshire Road, Leichhardt, is favoured by the body building the WestConnex motorway for a "dive site" to be used for tunnelling between Haberfield and Rozelle, as part of the 33 kilometre motorway's third stage.
The Sydney Motorway Corporation says it is also considering an alternative tunnelling site on Darley Road, Leichhardt, which is currently occupied by a Dan Murphy's bottle shop.
But according to meeting minutes between the Inner West Council and Sydney Motorway Corporation, the corporation's project director for the M4-M5 section of the road, Peter Jones, pointed out that the Derbyshire Road site "would involve less in the way of compensation as there is currently an active use on the Darley Road site – i.e. liquor store."
The prospect of a tunnelling location, which would require extensive truck activity to move underground spoil, being established next to a school has quickly elicited concern in Sydney's inner west.
The federal Labor transport spokesman and member for Grayndler, Anthony Albanese, lashed out at the plan at a press conference on Sunday.
The Inner West Council opposes either tunnelling location, while the former mayor of Leichhardt, Darcy Byrne, said it was "beyond belief that they are seeking to protect a liquor store by destroying a school."
"This will mean round the clock truck movements outside classroom windows for years to come," Mr Byrne said.
The meeting minutes between the council and the corporation show the council's engineering consultant suggested an alternative tunnelling site at the western end of the Rozelle Rail Yards.
But Sydney Motorway Corporation says this would not be feasible because of the light rail line that runs through the area.
The administrator of the Inner West Council, Richard Pearson, said Sydney Motorway Corporation was not considering the option of not having a tunnelling site between Haberfield and Rozelle.
According to Mr Pearson, Sydney Motorway Corporation has said it could build the project up to a year faster with a mid-way tunnelling site, but Mr Pearson said this benefit would not be worth the cost to the community.
"Sometimes the price is that you actually have to take longer to do things properly and not have three to four years of chaos adversely impacting on residents and school children," Mr Pearson said.
In emailed comments through a spokeswoman, the new Minister for WestConnex, Stuart Ayres, said: "This tunnel will take tens of thousands of cars off suburban streets and provide people in Western Sydney a true CBD by-pass."
A spokeswoman for the Sydney Motorway Corporation said in an email that more information about potential construction site locations at either Derbyshire Road or Darley Street would be released in coming weeks.
"We will be seeking community feedback on these options and wherever we can we will use these ideas to help create better outcomes for the whole community," the spokeswoman said.
"The $7.2 billion M4-M5 Link is the most important stage of WestConnex, providing the missing link between the New M5 at St Peters and the M4 East at Haberfield, creating a western bypass of the CBD."
"The majority of construction activities at the preferred temporary mid-tunnel construction site would be carried out within an acoustic shed to minimise noise and dust."
Mr Albanese said it was "extraordinary" that Sydney Motorway Corporation had not finalised the route or construction details of the motorway.
"This is a project that's been under construction for years and they're still writing to people saying they're not sure where it's going," Mr Albanese said.
