Isolated suburb’s fed-up residents go bush bashing to catch the train

4 hours ago 3

Residents of an isolated suburb on Melbourne’s western fringe have resorted to illegal “paddock bashing” to drive to and from their nearest train station, after a property developer abruptly closed the only direct route there.

The four-month road closure, which will continue until December, has forced commuters in the developing suburb of Thornhill Park to take a detour of up to 15 kilometres to reach Cobblebank railway station, instead of the usual two-kilometre journey.

Thornhill Park resident Matt Pearse sits by an illegal track residents are using to travel in and out of their suburb.

Some frustrated residents have chosen to go off-road instead, cutting through private paddocks and along makeshift dirt trails.

The practice has been condemned by the local council as dangerous and illegal. The council has received reports of a young child almost being hit by a speeding car whose driver emerged out of a paddock and into the unfenced yard of a new house.

But efforts to stop the behaviour have become a game of cat and mouse.

At the urging of the council, the developers who closed Alfred Road also blocked a popular illegal route by dumping a large mound of dirt over it. Residents found another trail.

Matt Pearse, a resident of Thornhill Park, said some people had taken it as a challenge to outfox the council and developers.

“I was at basketball at the weekend and someone said to me, ‘Oh, I found a new shortcut’,” Pearse said.

He acknowledged the behaviour was risky but said people were feeling desperate. The detour is adding significant travel time in an outer western suburb that already has notorious access problems.

“This is just people going about their day to day,” he said. “They’re just trying to get themselves to the train station. They’re trying to get into Cobblebank.

“In peak-hour traffic when you’re trying to get your kids to school, you’re talking about a 45 to 55-minute detour. So why wouldn’t they take the five to 10-minute paddock bashing route and get where they need to?”

Pearse stands in a makeshift track residents have begun using since developers closed the normal routes along Alfred Road.

The greenfields suburb has always had an inadequate road network. There is no freeway interchange into Thornhill Park, forcing residents to travel west into Melton then perform an elaborate U-turn at Ferris Road to head east towards the city. There is also no public transport, even though the Melton line runs through the suburb.

An upgrade of the Western Freeway between Melton and Caroline Springs is in the planning phase, but it has not been confirmed if the upgrade will include an interchange into Thornhill Park.

The Allan government has not committed funding to the project, despite receiving $1.1 billion towards it from the federal government in March. Premier Jacinta Allan told attendees of a summit last week that the design for the freeway upgrade was still incomplete.

Pearse has been lobbying Melton City Council to bring forward the construction of Shogaki Drive, which would provide a second east-west arterial route towards Melton. The council purchased the land for the planned road earlier this year. It is scheduled to be constructed in 2028.

Melton councillors will debate a motion put forward by Phillip Zada when they meet on Monday, calling on the council to bring forward funding for the construction of Shogaki Drive.

“The current lengthy closure of Alfred Road has forced residents to seek alternate and often unsafe routes to enter or exit their estates,” Zada’s motion says. “The expedited delivery of Shogaki Drive would offer a much-needed connection to alleviate these pressures and strengthen network resilience.”

The four-month closure of Alfred Road has cut off direct access to the Melton line for Thornhill Park residents.

Pearse has not resorted to using the illegal routes himself and says he fears someone could get into difficulty.

“You are taking it into your own hands and you don’t know what’s in those paddocks. You don’t know if there’s any sinkholes, potholes or rocks. I do sympathise, but things can go wrong.”

Alfred Road runs east-west between Thornhill Park and Melton and is the only direct route to Cobblebank train station, the closest station to Thornhill Park on the Melton line.

In August, the mostly rural standard road was closed until December for upgrade works, with just 12 days’ notice given to the community.

Developers of the Balmoral housing estate in Strathtulloh are upgrading it to an urban standard during the four-month closure, after which the empty paddocks will be subdivided into another housing estate.

A Melton council spokesperson said the Alfred Road upgrade was required by a planning permit and safe detours had been put in place via the Western Freeway or Exford Road.

“Crossing private land to avoid the detour is illegal, can damage private property, and in case of injury, drivers would not be covered by TAC,” the spokesperson said.

“Council has raised its concerns with the developer implementing the traffic management plan and continues to monitor traffic conditions on its road network.”

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