Latest news with #SuburbanRailLoopAuthority
The Age
28-07-2025
- Business
- The Age
State eyes carve-out of existing taxes to help plug $11.5b SRL funding hole
A Suburban Rail Loop fund would be created from siphoned-off tax revenue under a plan being considered by the Allan government to help fill an $11.5 billion hole in funding for its transport and housing centrepiece. The contentious proposal, confirmed by two government sources speaking anonymously to detail confidential discussions, raises fresh questions about the financing of the SRL amid other growing demands on the state budget. Under a plan being discussed within the Suburban Rail Loop Authority and at senior levels of the government, a share of existing stamp duty and land taxes levied on properties near proposed SRL stations would be earmarked for the $34.5 billion first stage of the project. The proposal to create what is known as a 'hypothecated' tax stream – a tax or levy dedicated for a specific purpose – to help pay for the SRL is a departure from the government's previous assumption that money raised through value capture would provide a third of the necessary funds. It signals the government now accepts the SRL may depend more heavily on state finances. The latest Victorian budget figures forecast a net debt for the state of a record $194 billion by the end of this decade. While the government is still finalising ideas for value capture – charges or fees through which the government reclaims a share of increased property values generated by a capital works project – a government source said SRL Authority and Treasury officials were grappling with concerns any additional tax burden on SRL housing developments would increase the cost of new homes in those areas. A report canvassing a new statewide infrastructure charge has also been sitting with the government since March. This year's state budget flagged the government's changing approach. In a section detailing updates on SRL East, the first stage of an orbital rail loop that will eventually encircle Melbourne's middle suburbs, it noted that value capture would supplement traditional state and federal funding but with a new focus on existing forms of income.
Sydney Morning Herald
28-07-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
State eyes carve-out of existing taxes to help plug $11.5b SRL funding hole
A Suburban Rail Loop fund would be created from siphoned-off tax revenue under a plan being considered by the Allan government to help fill an $11.5 billion hole in funding for its transport and housing centrepiece. The contentious proposal, confirmed by two government sources speaking anonymously to detail confidential discussions, raises fresh questions about the financing of the SRL amid other growing demands on the state budget. Under a plan being discussed within the Suburban Rail Loop Authority and at senior levels of the government, a share of existing stamp duty and land taxes levied on properties near proposed SRL stations would be earmarked for the $34.5 billion first stage of the project. The proposal to create what is known as a 'hypothecated' tax stream – a tax or levy dedicated for a specific purpose – to help pay for the SRL is a departure from the government's previous assumption that money raised through value capture would provide a third of the necessary funds. It signals the government now accepts the SRL may depend more heavily on state finances. The latest Victorian budget figures forecast a net debt for the state of a record $194 billion by the end of this decade. While the government is still finalising ideas for value capture – charges or fees through which the government reclaims a share of increased property values generated by a capital works project – a government source said SRL Authority and Treasury officials were grappling with concerns any additional tax burden on SRL housing developments would increase the cost of new homes in those areas. A report canvassing a new statewide infrastructure charge has also been sitting with the government since March. This year's state budget flagged the government's changing approach. In a section detailing updates on SRL East, the first stage of an orbital rail loop that will eventually encircle Melbourne's middle suburbs, it noted that value capture would supplement traditional state and federal funding but with a new focus on existing forms of income.
Sydney Morning Herald
26-07-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Monash University fears SRL plans for housing, office space will swallow high-tech hub
Monash University says its high-tech research and employment precinct risks being cannibalised by apartment buildings and office space under plans put forward by the state government's Suburban Rail Loop project. The CSIRO also fears the eastern suburbs underground rail line will interfere with its sensitive research equipment at the Monash Technology Precinct when it opens in 2035, according to concerns it outlines in one of more than 600 public submissions published on Friday night. The Suburban Rail Loop Authority released draft plans in March outlining how suburbs along the $34.5 billion rail line would be drastically reshaped with high-rise housing and new office space. The Allan government says SRL East will enable 70,000 extra homes to be built around stations at Box Hill, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Cheltenham, and shift employment away from Melbourne's CBD. Loading In its response to the draft structure plan and draft planning scheme amendments, Monash University says that it welcomes the train connection to its Clayton campus but fears the transformation plan could hinder its Monash Technology Precinct. The precinct is already Melbourne's largest employment hub outside the CBD and home to institutions including the CSIRO, the Australian Synchrotron, the Victorian Heart Hospital and the Moderna mRNA vaccine plant. But Monash says the SRL's Monash precinct plan has a 'core focus on housing' – with a goal to increase dwellings from 3900 to 8300, and residents from 10,000 to 17,900, by 2041 – and also forecasts significant growth in general office space. Both could hinder Monash's development and risk 'cannibalising land' for uses unrelated to the research precinct, the university says, while also expressing concerned the Suburban Rail Loop Authority has earmarked university land as 'strategic sites' for development without its agreement.
The Age
26-07-2025
- Business
- The Age
Monash University fears SRL plans for housing, office space will swallow high-tech hub
Monash University says its high-tech research and employment precinct risks being cannibalised by apartment buildings and office space under plans put forward by the state government's Suburban Rail Loop project. The CSIRO also fears the eastern suburbs underground rail line will interfere with its sensitive research equipment at the Monash Technology Precinct when it opens in 2035, according to concerns it outlines in one of more than 600 public submissions published on Friday night. The Suburban Rail Loop Authority released draft plans in March outlining how suburbs along the $34.5 billion rail line would be drastically reshaped with high-rise housing and new office space. The Allan government says SRL East will enable 70,000 extra homes to be built around stations at Box Hill, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Cheltenham, and shift employment away from Melbourne's CBD. Loading In its response to the draft structure plan and draft planning scheme amendments, Monash University says that it welcomes the train connection to its Clayton campus but fears the transformation plan could hinder its Monash Technology Precinct. The precinct is already Melbourne's largest employment hub outside the CBD and home to institutions including the CSIRO, the Australian Synchrotron, the Victorian Heart Hospital and the Moderna mRNA vaccine plant. But Monash says the SRL's Monash precinct plan has a 'core focus on housing' – with a goal to increase dwellings from 3900 to 8300, and residents from 10,000 to 17,900, by 2041 – and also forecasts significant growth in general office space. Both could hinder Monash's development and risk 'cannibalising land' for uses unrelated to the research precinct, the university says, while also expressing concerned the Suburban Rail Loop Authority has earmarked university land as 'strategic sites' for development without its agreement.
Sydney Morning Herald
17-07-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Suburban Rail Loop park takeover sparks $7m compo fight
The Suburban Rail Loop project is locked in a $6.9 million dispute with an eastern suburbs council over the value of a Burwood park it seized control of to build a station for the underground train line. The $34.5 billion mega-project compulsorily acquired Sinnott Street Reserve and other council-owned land between Sinnott Street, McComas Grove and the Burwood Highway in March 2023. Construction crews are working around the clock to build a 19-metre deep hole on the site, from which to launch two massive tunnel boring machines next year. The Burwood SRL station will provide a train link to Deakin University and trigger significant high-density housing development in the surrounding area, which currently consists mostly of single-storey detached houses. Whitehorse City Council has taken the Suburban Rail Loop Authority to the Supreme Court of Victoria, claiming it has refused to pay the council fair compensation for the loss of its park, which backed onto Gardiners Creek and included undercover picnic and barbecue facilities and the old Burwood Skyline Drive-in playground. Court documents show Whitehorse claims it is owed $16.4 million, comprising $15.98 million for the market value of the land, $72,412 in legal fees and other professional expenses, and $400,000 in solatium, which compensates for 'intangible' and non-monetary damage from losing the park. The Department of Transport and Planning's director of land acquisitions, Bryan Yeow, rejected this claim in April 2024, documents show. He made a counteroffer of $9.5 million for the land, based on an assessment by the Valuer-General Victoria, plus $45,566 in professional expenses. The $6.9 million difference in valuations partly comes down to a disagreement about the potential 'highest and best use' of the land.
