VPRS 10454 Consultants Correspondence Files: Eastern Corridor Study

The Eastern Corridor Study (ECS) grew out of the Ringwood Roads Impact and Koonung Valley Corridor Studies. The Study covered an area which spanned several municipalities within Melbourne's eastern suburbs, with boundaries from Burke Road in the west to Croydon in the east, and from Canterbury Road in the south to Warrandyte Road in the north.In July 1972, the Country Roads Board (CRB) was authorised by the Minister for Local Government to investigate the construction of a freeway in the Ringwood Area (between June 1970 and May 1973, the CRB reported to the Minister for Local Government). From this, the CRB hired consultants in September 1974 to undertake the Ringwood Roads Impact Study (RRIS). A further transport study in the adjoining Koonung Valley area (the Koonung Valley Corridor Study or KVCS) was commissioned in March 1975 by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (VA 1007).In July 1975 State Cabinet combined these two studies into the Eastern Corridor Study (ECS), for which a Final Report and Recommendations were to be submitted to Government by Christmas that year. A Management Group was established, comprising representatives from the CRB, MMBW and the Ministries for Planning, Transport and Conservation. Consultants were appointed to carry out the bulk of the research the main organisation being Alan M Voorhees & Partners Pty Ltd (AMV), which undertook the majority of research and community consultation. Sub-contractors were also employed to advise the CRB, obtain data, and produce technical reports.The major public concerns which the Management Group required consultants to address in their research were around issues of relocation, compensation and noise from increased traffic. There was considerable opposition to the proposed route of the freeways and major roads being considered in the ECS, from householders and organisations affected. There had been for 20 years a major road reservation in the planning scheme.Consultants undertook consultations in order to gauge community attitudes. A landscape study and investigation of the ecological characteristics of the corridor and impacts of the new transport infrastructure were undertaken by the consultants.The Summary Report and Recommendations were presented in December 1975 (a copy of which is in VPRS 10448 Reports: Eastern Corridor Study). No conclusions were reached by the consultants in the Report. The Final Report and Recommendations to the Government were produced by the Management Group and submitted in late December 1975.This series consists of files created and maintained by consultants working on the Eastern Corridor Study (ECS) in 1974 and 1975.Unit 1 contains files relating to various community organisations in the Eastern Region. These files contain inward and outward correspondence, and other records, such as lists of community organisations in the area, and their contact details.Unit 2 contains public relations files, with records including advertisements placed by the consultants in local press, press releases, and files on public meetings organised by the consultants. There is also a file containing copies of the Bulletin produced by the consultants, and the mailing list of its recipients.Unit 3 contains files on Action Groups. There are files for individual Action Groups and general files. These contain correspondence, publicity and other items such as a tape of a radio interview with a community leader about the ECS.Files in Units 4 7 would fall into a 'miscellaneous' category. Unit 4 contains various types of files. One file contains the consultants' procedures for property enquiries about houses affected by the proposed roads and freeways from the public or organisations, completed Record of Verbal Property Enquiry forms and letters sent from the consultants following enquiries. This unit contains a file on the open space needs of the area. There is a copy of the Koonung-Mullum Forestway A Plan for Action, developed by a community action group with funding from the Department of Environment.Unit 5 contains a copy of the contract between CRB and the consultants. There are files on the Environmental Impact Statement for the ECS, Transportation Modelling and Traffic Predictions. There is a file on Traffic Surveys, containing copies of survey results and correspondence.Unit 6 has a file on Short Term Road Proposals. There is a file in this unit relating to the Home Interview Survey. This contains addresses of homes to be surveyed, a copy of the letter sent to householders and the questionnaire. It contains some completed questionnaires which were returned to the consultants after the cut-off date. Unit 7 contains files on Planning Policies, Evaluation Procedures for the project and some loose papers relating to the consultants' research into noise.