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The Fifth Estate: The top 10 TFE articles of 2015

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The Fifth Estate: The top 10 TFE articles of 2015 (22 December 2015)

2015 has been a huge year for The Fifth Estate. Reader numbers continued to grow; we clocked up our most read, commented upon and shared story in TFE history; and the number of special projects, events and ebooks we took on seemed to grow exponentially.

Following the success of COP21 and a renewed focus on cities from our federal government and indeed the world, we leave the year hopeful for an even bigger 2016 – hopeful that our leaders now finally understand the importance of a sector we’ve been talking about for close to seven years now, and hopeful that they will now implement some concrete actions to improve its sustainability.

As we head off for the Christmas break, we’ll leave you with the top 10 stories of 2015 – there’s some scandal, some hope, some “how-to”s and a little bit of old-fashioned sustainability ingenuity to boot. See you in 2016!

Read More »The Fifth Estate: The top 10 TFE articles of 2015

NSW Government steals Western Sydney’s future with over-priced light rail

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EcoTransit Sydney – Media Release: NSW Government steals Western Sydney’s future with over-priced light rail (8 December 2015)

Ecotransit Sydney today welcomed the government building one quarter of the Parramatta light rail network. However the community is staggered by the massive cost of such a small start. With a massive initial estimate and so little detail, taxpayers are left concerned that this is yet another open ended honey pot for the construction industry.

Read More »NSW Government steals Western Sydney’s future with over-priced light rail

A mystery leaflet spruiking the Waterloo station option.

Sydney Metro: Mysterious flyer pushes for new rail station at Waterloo, not Sydney University

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A mystery leaflet spruiking the Waterloo station option.

A mystery leaflet spruiking the Waterloo station option.

SMH: Sydney Metro: Mysterious flyer pushes for new rail station at Waterloo, not Sydney University. Jacob Saulwick November 30, 2015

A University of Sydney animation shows a proposed $1.5 billion ‘knowledge hub’ and a new train station for a metro line through the city.Read More »Sydney Metro: Mysterious flyer pushes for new rail station at Waterloo, not Sydney University

There are likely to be an extra 20,000 cars on weekdays on the Anzac Bridge when WestConnex is built.

State Government business case reveals increased traffic congestion on roads that are already struggling to cope

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There are likely to be an extra 20,000 cars on weekdays on the Anzac Bridge when WestConnex is built.

There are likely to be an extra 20,000 cars on weekdays on the Anzac Bridge when WestConnex is built.

Inner West Courier: State Government business case reveals increased traffic congestion on roads that are already struggling to cope. Deborah FitzGerald  November 24, 2015

There are likely to be an extra 20,000 cars on weekdays on the Anzac Bridge when WestConnex is built.Read More »State Government business case reveals increased traffic congestion on roads that are already struggling to cope

WestConnex Business Case Just One Big Con

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No WestConnex Public Transport: Media Release  20 November 2015 

The “Strategic” Business Case for the 35-kilometre series of WestConnex Tollways has finally been released. It has no attributed author. The total cost is now predicted to be $16.8 billion. When it was announced in October 2012, the original cost of WestConnex was $10 billion. How high will these costs go?Read More »WestConnex Business Case Just One Big Con

A public meeting at the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre held by the Westconnex Action Group on Monday night. Photo: Lorrie Graham

Westconnex clearways could turn King Street into Parramatta road: Plibersek

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A public meeting at the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre held by the Westconnex Action Group on Monday night. Photo: Lorrie Graham

A public meeting at the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre held by the Westconnex Action Group on Monday night. Photo: Lorrie Graham

Inner West Independent: Westconnex clearways could turn King Street into Parramatta road: Plibersek  by Alexander Lewis August 13, 2015

Federal deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek has joined an accelerating campaign to put the brakes on WestConnex.Read More »Westconnex clearways could turn King Street into Parramatta road: Plibersek

Friends of Erskineville president Darren Jenkins said locals are often unsure if they will be able to board overcrowded trains at peak periods. Source: Ryan Quinn

Bypassing Erskineville

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Friends of Erskineville president Darren Jenkins said locals are often unsure if they will be able to board overcrowded trains at peak periods. Source: Ryan Quinn

Friends of Erskineville president Darren Jenkins said locals are often unsure if they will be able to board overcrowded trains at peak periods. Source: Ryan Quinn

Inner West Independent: Bypassing Erskineville July 23, 2015

More than 100 angered Erskineville residents have united at the suburb’s town hall to end uncertainty over the future of trains to Erskineville and St Peters stations.Read More »Bypassing Erskineville

Video: Gavin Gatenby & David Kirby on WestConnex & history repeating

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david-kirby-gavin-gatenbyThe Fifth Estate: Video: Gavin Gatenby & David Kirby on WestConnex & history repeating (2 July 2015)

In the late 1970s in Sydney it was the South-West freeway, now the M5, that drew heavy opposition.

Today it’s the WestConnex, but as far as EcoTransit Sydney’s Gavin Gatenby is concerned the fundamentals have not changed.

Gatenby, no stranger to agitation on behalf of more equitable and sustainable outcomes, has interviewed former NSW Supreme Court judge David Kirby, who conducted a thorough review of radial freeways on behalf of the NSW government at the time, starting in 1979.Read More »Video: Gavin Gatenby & David Kirby on WestConnex & history repeating