Planning, Environment & Local Government

The RTA's noise assessment was inadequate and misleading.  Their noise control solutions were unacceptable: close the windows and run an airconditioner (this is a farmhouse on a rural property, accustomed to natural ventilation, fresh air and enjoyment of the outdoors).

Acoustic experts were engaged and preparations made for a serious fight in court to prove that the existing house would be made unliveable by the noise from the new highway, but lateral thinking found a better solution.

A beautiful old timber house on an adjoining farm had been acquired by the RTA and was slated for demolition to make way for a new cutting, despite having heritage significance.  It was too big to move along the highway, but a deal was done to move that house across the paddocks onto our client's place and, with the assistance of a bulldozer, drag it up a steep hill to a new location well removed from the new highway.  I'll try to post some photos of the move as soon as I work out how to do that.

All around, a great result.  A heritage building was saved from demolition and reused as a farmhouse in its local context, our clients are ecstatic with the character and location of their "new" home, the RTA saved a lot of money compared with the cost of building a new house and we managed to keep our clients out of a stressful court battle about highly technical noise issues.

Subsequently, the RTA accepted that their initial noise assessment was wrong and commissioned a new study, which will be of assistance to other affected landowners in the area.