The choice – improving or defacing a residential neighbourhood. Merri Creek Parklands (left) could be expanded, if the Brunswick Terminal Station (right) was to be redeveloped as an underground station as in Sydney or Anaheim.
Singapore Power AusNet is one of Australia's largest energy delivery businesses and operates the Brunswick Electricity Terminal Station. It appears to be owned to 51% by the Singaporean Government (via two intermediate businesses).
Singapore Power AusNet has applied for a planning permit to expand the electrical equipment and operation at its Brunswick Terminal Station within a residential zone 1 in 46 King Street, Fitzroy North (Moreland City Planning Application MPS 2009/776).
The Brunswick Terminal Station receives power at 220 kV from the Thomastown Terminal Station and currently has three transformers that reduce the voltage from 220 kV to 22 kV to supply businesses and households in Brunswick, Fitzroy, Northcote, Fairfield, Essendon, Ascot Vale and Monee Ponds.
The expansion of the Brunswick Terminal Station is aimed to increase capacity and to transform power from 220 kV to 66 kV to provide power to the Melbourne Central Business District and also to areas currently serviced by the Richmond Terminal Station. It was noted by consultants that the planned expansion would defer, but not eliminate the requirement to establish a new terminal station in the inner suburban area.
If approved, the planned expansion would add two new 220 kV/66 kV transformers to the existing three 220 kV/22 kV transformers. High voltage electricity cabling would increase from four major lines spanning approximately 160 m each to nine major lines spanning approximately 210 m each (6 lines) or 130 m each (3 lines). Currently, cables arrive at a 40 m high steel lattice tower and are conducted to one 25 m high straining tower. In the expanded version of the terminal station the cables are proposed to be supported by structures that incorporate twelve 25.9 m high vertical steel lattice structures connected by horizontal steel lattice structures at 18.3 m height. These structures are called racks. The approximate appearance of these racks is shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3.
Figure 1: : The proposed expansion of the Brunswick Terminal Station incorporates steel lattice racks similar to those shown here with a total of twelve 25.9 m high vertical steel lattice structures connected at 18.3 m height with horizontal steel lattice structures. Structures like these will dwarf low trees and bushes proposed to be planted.
Figure 2: The 25.9 m-high vertical steel lattice structures will loom over houses as shown here.
Figure 3: The 25.9 m-high vertical steel lattice structures will be visible from afar as shown here.
Recently, Singapore Power AusNet has removed vegetation around the perimeter of the Brunswick Terminal Station, which previously screened the site effectively from sight, and has installed a high security electric fence and signage. Removal of vegetation, the electric fence and the signage give the site a decidedly industrial look (see Figure 4 for comparison before and after removal of screening vegetation). This defacing of the neighbourhood was not welcomed by local residents and parkland users.
Figure 4: The Brunswick Terminal Station before (below, Google Street View image) and after (above) SP AusNet removed screening vegetation in 2009. View from 8 Alister Street. Note the thick vegetation in the before image and the clearly industrial sight in the after image.
Figure 4 Before
The Brunswick Terminal Station is in a very residential location. Directly bordering the terminal station are two small, tree-lines residential streets, King Street and Alister Street (Figures 5 and 6). Twenty-eight houses and eight flats are direct neighbours of the Brunswick Terminal Station. Similarly, Sumner Park with its soccer ground, Phillips Reserve and the Merri Creek Parklands directly border the Brunswick Terminal Station (Figures 7 and 8). Hundreds of residents including many children from near and far streets use these parklands daily for recreational purposes. One-hundred-and-one houses and eight flats are situated within 100 m of the Brunswick Terminal Station site. This is Melbourne' most residential site for a terminal station (Figure 9).
Figure 5: Alister Street along the Brunswick Terminal Station
Figure 6: A Footpath along King Street.
Figure 7: Sumner Park abutting the Brunswick Terminal Station
Figure 8: Merri Creek Parkland abutting the Brunswick Terminal Station
Figure 9: Satellite image of the very residential neighbourhood in which the Brunswick Terminal Station is embedded (image: Google satellite image)
If approved, the planned expansion of the Brunswick Terminal Station will change the character of the neighbourhood irretrievably from a pleasant residential and parkland area to one with a distinctly industrial aspect. The planned plantings will not effectively screen the high new electrical installations from view. The cables, steel lattice racks, transformers and switch houses will be visible from King Street, Alister Street, Glenlyon Road, some residences within Sumner Estate, Sumner Park, Merri Creek Parklands, Phillips Reserve, Merri Park and Kirkdale Street Park. Electrical installations will encroach on residences in Alister Street and on users of Sumner Park. Currently, the closest electrical installations are situated approximately 110 m away Alister Street. The proposed arrangement will bring the closest installation to only 23 m from Alister Street. Electrical installations will be visible above trees and bushes and through gates at the site.
The proposed development as an aboveground, open-air, a fenced-in terminal station in a residential area is not state-of-the-art technology at the residential interface. It is not state-of-the-art urban planning. Countries that have a similar gross domestic product as Australia solve the need to have terminal stations in cities in the following manner:
• Most commonly, the terminal stations are situated in industrial areas, as is the case for the West Melbourne Terminal Station (Figure 10).
• Where a terminal station is required in a residential or business district area, the terminal station is typically concealed, either in a building or underground.
Figure 10: The West Melbourne Terminal Station is situated appropriately in an industrial area surrounded by the Tullamarine Freeway, a wrecker and a small number of transport-related businesses (image: Google satellite image)
Sydney solved the supply of its CBD with electricity with at least one underground installation (below Haymarket). Melbourne could solve the CBD’s electricity needs in a similar manner. Some terminal stations are below parkland, which enhances rather than degrades the suburb (see Figures 11 and 12).
Figure 11: An underground terminal station (image: Roosevelt park underground electric station dedication movie)
Figure 12: Roosevelt Park, Anaheim, California, above an underground electric station (image: Roosevelt park underground electric station dedication movie)
As it was noted by consultants that the planned expansion would defer, but not eliminate the requirement to establish a new terminal station in the inner suburban area, Melbourne might as well move now and build an underground terminal station in a CBD location like Sydney using modern technology, which is said to cut the space required by 70%. This alternative approach would have three major benefits:
(1) Melbourne would invest now and not later into a centrally located terminal station that is required in future anyway and not waste money on an interim solution, which is projected to be insufficient in the future.
(2) Moreland City has one of the lowest percentages of open space. This would be a unique opportunity to increase the parkland space for community use in Moreland and would make Moreland more attractive.
(3) It is the only way to treat local residents with the respect that is naturally afforded to those residents in wealthier areas of Melbourne.
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