Sent hardcopy of email and resident letters to Gary Liddle by post in case email is sitting in a junk mailbox somewhere. Also sent a copy of the email to the project manager, David Smith.

Sent copies of the signed letters in a PDF to Gary Liddle at VicRoads with cc's to Michael O'Brien (state member) and Kelly O'Dwyer (federal member).

15 returns of the letter so far - would be nice to have a few more. Plan to scan them into a PDF document and  send them to Gary Liddle early next week.

Decided to petition the CEO of VicRoads, Gary Liddle. Distributed letter (see below) for Gary Liddle to local residents for their signature. 

Gary Liddle

Chief Executive

VicRoads

Ref: Monash Freeway Noise Barrier Upgrade – East Malvern

Dear Mr Liddle,

Recently VicRoads completed an upgrade of the noise barriers along the Monash Freeway either side of Winton Road in East Malvern.

When work commenced I was expecting the result to be a reduction in the excessive traffic noise from the freeway.  Now that the project has been completed there has been no reduction in noise levels.  But instead, the noise is even worse and more intrusive than before.

It is my understanding that the work was a trial of new technology.  Why were existing methods, which have proven effective in other areas, not used?  This would have ensured maximum benefit to the residents.

Also, the standard of the work is unacceptable as numerous gaps have been left under the barriers and between panels where they were removed and replaced during the upgrade.

With the amount of public money that has been spent, we have every right to expect an improvement in the situation rather than a degradation.

The impact on local residents lives is significant and I request that VicRoads as a matter of urgency take steps to reduce the noise to an acceptable level.

I look forward to your prompt attention.

Yours sincerely

................................................................................................................ Signature

................................................................................................................ Name

................................................................................................................ Address

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................................................................................................................ Date

Received acknowledgment from Michael O'Brien of my email. Said he would forward it onto the Transport Minister. I take this to mean I will not hear anything else about it.

Sent letter to local state MP, Michael O'Brien complaining about the noise.

Contacted VicRoads again. This time Spoke to Eric and asked why the work promised by David Smith on 23/10 had not been done. Told him I wanted to escalate the issue and asked who I should contact. He replied that he cannot give out names or contact details of VicRoads staff. How is one supposed to get anything done if they won't tell you who to contact.Maybe that's the point. They figure that the more they stonewall the more fed up the customer will become and go away and leave them in peace. Not this little black duck! After a bit of an argument he did give me David Smith's email address. At this stage I think the next point of call should be higher up the food chain. Will go straight to the top.

Ref # 500506790

Checked whether promised work to blocking of gaps beneath barriers had been done. It had not.