The protest and consternation about Australia's largest motorway project, WestConnex, has been reverberating through Sydney's inner west for months – but it hasn't been as loud as Splendour in the Grass.
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Public submissions lodged in response to the M4 East motorway tunnel from Concord to Haberfield have highlighted the concerns of residents and councils about a multitude of issues.
In total, almost 4800 submissions were lodged in response to the environmental impact statement on the project. The great majority appear to be against the motorway, citing fears it will encourage car use and add to Sydney's overall traffic congestion.
A number of children have also added their voices – or, rather their drawings, to the debate. "I object to WestConnex because there will be more cars and more pollution," wrote nine-year-old Adrian Roper-Tyler.
But according to the Department of Planning, which released those filings this week, more submissions were lodged in response to a number of other controversial developments.
In Sydney's north-west, for instance, the construction of the M2 motorway attracted about 14,000 submissions. And submissions in 2012 on the location of the Splendour in the Grass music festival in the Byron Bay area totalled 5540.
While not all of the latest submissions from councils were opposed outright to the project, those from Ashfield, City of Sydney, Leichhardt and Marrickville raised deep reservations about the M4 East in its present form, including concerns about it funnelling more traffic onto local roads.
The City of Sydney described the strategic justification for the M4 East as "weak and inconsistent" with the Baird government's policy.
The council believes the motorway will result in more vehicles travelling into the city along Parramatta Road and the Anzac Bridge, and boost the number of buses entering the city centre along Parramatta Road.
It labelled evidence in the environmental impact statement as "incomplete and unbalanced, selectively including and excluding impacts from subsequent planned stages of the WestConnex project".
Marrickville Council said the major cost of the project did not justify its benefits to the community, and even the advantages for toll-paying motorists were "dubious".
More than 100 residents also descended on State Parliament on Thursday afternoon to hear a debate on the $15 billion WestConnex project.
The 33-kilometre motorway is made up of three sections: a widened M4 motorway and new M4 East tunnels; another M5 East tunnel; and a new M4-M5 tunnel linking the two.
The Baird government is yet to release an updated business case for WestConnex to take into account additions to the project such as a western crossing of Sydney Harbour.
