MP Shane Love calls on Transport Minister Rita Saffioti to visit Gelorup over Bunbury Outer Ring Road route

Transport Minister Rita Saffioti has not confirmed whether she would visit concerned residents in Gelorup in regards to opposition to the southern route of the $852 million Bunbury Outer Ring Road. Shadow transport minister Shane Love used a Grievance in Parliament last week to call on Ms Saffioti to visit the area to meet frustrated locals and requested the Main Roads WA community consultation processes be “urgently reviewed”. The BORR is a 27km corridor connecting Forrest and Bussell highways to provide an alternative route around Bunbury and improve safety and congestion by separating local and freight traffic. MORE NEWS Construction of the northern and central sections is under way, but members of the Gelorup community have been actively campaigning against the proposed southern route over fears it will “divide the community” and harm the environment. The southern section was last month recommended by the Environmental Protection Authority for approval and is now awaiting the Minister for Environment’s decision. Mr Love said he was concerned the route was selected by a “deficient process” that overlooked Gelorup residents. “It would appear Main Roads came at the southern BORR project with a plan to work towards a predetermined outcome rather than adopting due process,” he said. Mr Love said the route — which was first proposed in the 1970s — matched the task decades ago, but may no longer be fit for purpose. “Main Roads appears to have over-ridden the concerns of the local community,” he said. “It is not the transport route to meet the South West’s future needs.” Ms Saffioti said the alignment had been in place for almost 50 years and community consultation had been undertaken. “I understand things do change and that’s one of the reasons the alignment was revisited,” she said. “All of the alignments have impacts. “It’s very hard to build a highway without having impacts.” She did not answer Mr Love’s call to visit the community, but said she had been “dismayed” early on by “personal attacks” online. Ms Saffioti said she understood some people were frustrated with the outcome, but the “widely supported project” was a big commitment that was trying to balance all needs. “In balancing all the different needs, there are significant different challenges for local residents concerning the movement of freight, the safety through that area and the growing populations of Busselton and Bunbury,” she said. “It is a significant challenge, but I think we’ve got that balance right.”