SYDNEY — In the final weeks before the federal election, federal transport minister Anthony Albanese has announced the proposed extension of the M5 roadway is to be scrapped.
The proposed road was to be a 50-foot-high motorway, cutting through soccer fields and regenerated bushland in Tempe. It would have passed through Sydenham, and ended at St Peters — a short distance from the already congested south King St in Newtown.
Local residents campaigned hard against the proposed road. On August 7, a victory meeting was held at St Peters Town Hall. Euphemia, a local Aboriginal elder told the gathering that “the land welcomes you”. The meeting was also addressed by Albanese and Marrickville Mayor Sam Iskander.
Pat McInerney, Tempe resident and one of the organisers of the Tempe 2020 campaign group, spoke of the relief he and the other local residents felt with the decision to scrap the planned road.