Phil and Robbie McFadyen bought the 17 acre property “Trewilga Park”, to get out of the city and escape to the country.

They and 9 of their 14 children moved to the area seeking a self sufficient lifestyle, which until a few months ago they were happily living.

“We went from no one knowing we were here, to having a major highway practically on our boundary fence,” Robbie said.

As it is today the highway is 500 metres from the property on the other side of a hill. It can’t be seen or heard from Phil and Robbie’s place. When the new section is completed, it will be 170 metres from their property line.

Seven of the McFadyen’s children are still living at home, five of them are home-schooled. Phil, along with his son, Alistair and daughter, Isabella all work from home.

The family grow the majority of their food, including meat, on the property and are gravely concerned about the effects the pollution from one of the busiest arterial highways in the country will have on their vegetables, animals, soil and water.

Eight hundred metres of the 6.5 kilometre upgrade runs parallel to their boundary fence.

“We are outside a lot tending to the animals and gardening,” Phil said.

“There are workmen everywhere and the noise from the machinery goes non-stop from 7am to 6pm. It makes it very hard to concentrate when I’m working at my desk in my shed. The roadworks are expected to be completed in mid 2018, so we have at least another 18 months of this to put up with.

“We will be swimming in the pool soon, with no privacy from the work site. When the new section of the highway is complete, the road level will be 3.4 metres above our pool. Put a truck on it, and the driver will sit 5.9 metres above our yard.”

According to the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) website, heavy vehicles make up about 31 per cent of traffic along this section of the highway, with the majority being 26 metre B-doubles.

The RMS also expect the volume of heavy vehicle traffic to increase annually.

The McFadyens have accepted the new section of highway, but are asking the RMS to address their privacy, noise and pollution concerns.

“We are in ongoing discussions, but at the moment they are offering to plant two metre tall saplings along the boundary fence to act as a privacy screen which they have promised to maintain for two years,” Phil said.

“It will take approximately 10 years for them to establish into an effective privacy screen.”

Phil said the RMS has also offered to provide $35,000 for noise mitigation to the house and privacy screens for the courtyard and swimming pool.

“The RMS expect that amount will be sufficient to insulate the roof, double glaze the windows, replace the evaporative air conditioning with refrigerated, and to build two privacy screens, but we don’t agree,” Phil said.

“A few years ago we received a quote of $12,000 just to insulate the house and entertainment areas. Privacy screens or walls in the house yard would be impractical. We need to visually supervise the children and animals.”

The McFadyens have already agreed to the fencing of a two metre corridor down the length of their boundary for trees, rendering it unusable for them. Yet the Senior Project Manager overseeing the upgrade, Jeffrey Hall, claims in written correspondence that no part of their property was required for the construction of the Trewilga Project.

Phil and Robbie ideally would like a noise mound erected, but are loath to lose even more land with no compensation.

“The railway line runs between the new road and our boundary fence,” Phil said.

“That land belongs to the rail company ARTC. Jeffrey Hall has informed us that a noise reduction mound cannot go on ARTC land. So as it stands, we feel if we had to choose between privacy and losing more land, we would choose privacy.”

At a meeting on July 28, the RMS advised the McFadyens there would be no problem with pollution 15 metres from the road.

“I don’t agree with this and will be taking soil samples now and after the road is completed,” Phil said.

Another problem they would like addressed is one of headlights at night. At the northern end of their property, the new road points directly at the rear of their home and straight at the large kitchen window.

“I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Every vehicle that comes along at night will be shining their headlights directly into my face,” Robbie said.

The latest meeting with the RMS on October 28, has left the McFadyens feeling more positive. 

“They have approved a one metre mound with a 1.8 metre fence on top,” Robbie said. “It is not high enough for semis, but it is high enough for most traffic.”

Phil said a noise consultant has also been engaged and they have been informed the initial figure of $35,000 is not set in stone.