The government needs to be clear on when any Unanderra station upgrade will take place, said Wollongong MP Paul Scully.
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Transport for NSW has stated an upgrade will occur at some time between now and 2022 – the date set by federal legislation for when all public transport needs to be accessible.
But there has been no firmer indication of a time than that.
“People won’t be happy but people would be more satisfied if they knew roughly when Unanderra station was going to be addressed,” Mr Scully said.
“I don’t think this is too much to ask for a station that was previously on the list, that a Labor government had previously allocated the funds to, for them to be a bit upfront with our community and say ‘we haven’t done it to date but we intend to start it by date X’.”
There were extra funds in last week’s state budget so a number of accessibility upgrades could go ahead – but Unanderra was not one of them.
This would suggest that any upgrade for Unanderra may be unlikely in the coming financial year
Mr Scully was also concerned about the fact that other stations situated lower than Unanderra on Transport for NSW rankings were seeing work begin while the station in Wollongong's southern suburb still waits.
“The government claims that they do this on a evidence basis,” Mr Scully said.
“Well an evidence basis gives you a priority ranking.
“The last ranking I got showed Unanderra came in at 11 and Leura station came in at 14 but Leura got funded first.
“That makes a mockery of it and I’ll continue to pursue that.”
A Transport for NSW spokeswoman has said projects may be brought forward if others with a higher ranking are not able to proceed.
The spokeswoman did not explain why work at Unanderra station was not ready to go ahead, only stating that “further feasibility work was undertaken” for both stations after the department’s initial priority rankings were done.
Mr Scully has also put forward a notice of motion in parliament on the issue of Unanderra station.
The motion “calls on the Berejiklian Government to provide an explanation to residents of Unanderra and surrounding suburbs as to why it continues to prioritise other stations above Unanderra for access improvements for no clear reason.”