Community resigned to tram bridge fate

The fight against the Fishermans Bend tram bridge appears all but lost, according to the Yarra’s Edge community.

Both the owners’ corporation and Marina YE last month sent letters to residents and marina tenants informing them of plans to build a tower on Lorimer St that includes provision for a tram line.

Fears about the bridge were raised when the City of Melbourne gave its approval to a plan for the 74-storey tower on the southern side of Lorimer St.

The design for the Little Projects tower includes a 17.5 metre wide corridor on its eastern side to allow room for a tram that would pass from Docklands, across the M1 and into the Montague precinct of Fishermans Bend.

It would also include an elevated tram stop at level two of the building.

City of Melbourne councillors unanimously supported the proposal, subject to a number of conditions recommended by council officers.

The proposal is now with the Metropolitan Planning Authority as the responsible authority for Fishermans Bend.  

Planning Minister Matthew Guy has repeatedly said the tram bridge was a long-term option for Fishermans Bend, but the provision for the transport link in the Little Projects proposal has raised concerns.

In a letter to residents, Owners’ Corporation 1 described the new residential tower as “monstrous”.

The development would include 900 apartments and, at 237 metres high, would be double the height of Tower 5 at Yarra’s Edge.

The letter to residents stated: “As a community we have been ignored by the political class and frankly they have been devious and untruthful in their dealings. But worse, by approving this tower, they are setting the precedent for many other Fishermans Bend developments to be as big, and setting in motion the tram link plan.”

The City of Port Phillip has been campaigning for the construction of the tram bridge, even going so far as to commission a potential design.

Representatives from the Yarra’s Edge community met with the Port Phillip Council last month to discuss the bridge and said they were shown detailed engineer’s drawings.

“The bridge will be a bascule bridge and have a clearance height of four metres when closed and will open to allow vessels with a height greater than four metres to enter and leave the marina,” a letter from Marina YE manager Allan Cayzer stated.

The letter stated that although the drawings of the bridge were detailed, the appearance of the structure was yet to be decided.

According to the letter, the City of Port Phillip has been  “aggressively soliciting developers to fund the tram bridge”.

“The bridge may be built sooner than we thought, with a three to five year timeframe suggested,” Mr Cayzer said in the letter.

A City of Port Phillip spokesperson told Docklands News work on the proposed tram bridge was continuing.

“Council is continuing its assessment of the feasibility of the Collins St tram extension as a key catalyst project for the Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal Area.”

“The findings of this work will be released when completed.”

Representatives from the Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure (DTPLI) were scheduled to address the October 29 Docklands Community Forum but have since cancelled the appearance.

A DTPLI spokesperson said the cancellation was due to the caretaker period ahead of the state election.

“DTPLI has reviewed the event in light of the caretaker conventions, which guide the conduct of our business leading up to an election and ensure the actions carried out do not bind or limit an incoming government’s freedom or actions, and it is therefore inappropriate to present at this time.”