AROUND 20 local residents stopped a drill site at St Peters in the night as WestCONnex contractors were sent home early on full pay in the lead up to Christmas.

WestCONnex Action Group teamed with Reclaim the Streets and Lock the Gate Alliance to hold the impromptu protest as WestCONnex workers tried to start drilling on Campbell St in St Peters in the middle of the night.

“Residents will stand united and continue to take action against companies with a commercial interest in the WestCONnex project,” said WestCONnex Action Group spokesperson Janet Dandy-Ward. 

“Every time they come, we’ll be here in numbers, and it will be like throwing money down a hole if you’re a private company involved in a WestCONnex project.

“This is a sham project similar to the one rejected by Victorian voters, and it will be rejected in NSW because no one wants to be sold to toll operators and that is what’s happening to motorists from Western and South Western Sydney,”

“How are motorists expected to be able to afford $26 a day to use the WestCONnex roads, on top of the other tolls that will be introduced on roads that are currently toll free? 

“Just like Victoria, there is no business case for this sham road project and we will be paying for this road for generations to come and it will not alleviate traffic congestion one iota. 

“The people of Western and South Western Sydney deserve affordable public transport options rather than being sold to toll operators,” said Ms Dandy-Ward. 

Residents also expressed concern about the effect of a six-lane motorway dumping traffic into high density inner west suburbs.

“King St Newtown will not survive this project as it becomes a clearway like Parramatta Road, and that will be the death of one of Australia’s most vibrant suburbs,” said Ms Dandy-Ward.

The latest resident action follows a protest festival of street blockades when up to 2000 Inner West Residents reclaimed the streets around Simpson Park.

Media contact: Garth Montgomery 0408 864 851