Residents of a street in Canberra's north west which carries much of the bus traffic for the region say an expanded bus layover has created undue noise and pollution after it was built without consultation.
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The number of buses starting and ending runs at the Fraser West bus terminus on Shakespeare Crescent has more than doubled since a new transport network was introduced in May 2019.
Alan Larby, who lives with his family opposite the terminus, said the noise levels from the idling buses regularly exceeded residential limits.
"Specifically we are zoned as a residential zone and you can't make this amount of noise in a residential zone every day," Mr Larby said.
One resident, who asked not be named to protect his privacy, said the dust from the expanded layover area had repeatedly turned his pool black.
"We were just sitting there looking normally out on a little green reserve and suddenly there were four buses here," he said.
A petition calling on the ACT government to reduce the number of buses which use the terminus or relocate it away from a residential area attracted 175 signatures and was tabled in the ACT Legislative Assembly last week.
Liberal member for Ginninderra Elizabeth Kikkert, who sponsored the petition, said residents had woken up to find buses parked on the nature strip right outside their door.
"Without any community consultation or warning, Labor has commandeered this community's green nature reserve literally overnight to park many buses," Ms Kikkert said.
"If the loss of the green nature strip wasn't bad enough, the toxic fumes and dust blowing into residents' homes raises serious health risks and is also having a detrimental impact on their emotional well being."
A spokeswoman for the Transport Canberra and City Services directorate confirmed no environmental impact assessment had been completed for the works.
More permanent works are planned for the Fraser West terminus
The spokeswoman said Transport Canberra would complete a planning study to find another new permanent bus terminus in the West Belconnen area.
This would reduce the number of buses using the Fraser West terminus and travelling along Shakespeare Crescent, she said.
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Meanwhile, a petition calling for community consultation for a permanent bus layover at the corner of Barry Drive and Watson Street in Turner with nearly 400 signatures was also tabled in the Legislative Assembly last week.
Residents were concerned the layover, which was first proposed in 2013 to replace a 1980s-era car park, would see community amenity lost.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
