By Corey Everitt
PRECEDE
It may be a small coastal town that many pass on their way to Phillip Island, but Lang Lang isn’t as laid back as it appears, and it may be for good reason. The town is being asked to play a significant role in the future of Melbourne’s growth with little in return so far. In the first week of coverage for four key election issues, the Gazette looks at the desperate need for the Lang Lang Truck Bypass and why the next Federal Government should commit to fast-tracking it.
BREAKOUT QUOTES: “It makes sense that if you’ve got this size of vehicles, you wouldn’t have them running through the main street of a town.”
“We came here for the peace and quiet of a rural lifestyle and affordability, why should that be jeopardised for resources?”
It’s not uncommon to hear trucks throughout all of Cardinia Shire; the distant sound of engine brakes is a cost of being a highly productive region in both industry and agriculture.
However, for residents of Lang Lang, the sound is right outside their front door.
The town holds one critical resource, high-quality sand. These large trucks have to use the small, single-carriageway main roads which cut through the town’s houses and businesses.
A new council surveys show a single truck passes through Lang Lang’s main road every 45 seconds on weekdays – an average of more than 80 trucks every hour.
50 trucks per hour were estimated to pass through Lang Lang streets in 2024, previous years it was recorded at around 30 per hour.
Cardinia Mayor Jack Kowarzik said there was widespread concern in the community regarding large trucks passing homes, shops and the primary school.
“In order to support this major industry, the residents of Lang Lang are forced to deal with degraded roads, dangerous streets, and constant air and noise pollution,” he said.
“Trucks travelling past the school entrance and bus stop is not something that any parent should have to worry about on a daily basis.
“Our community has been trying to divert heavy vehicles from the main streets of Lang Lang for more than a decade, and residents deserve for their safety and well-being to be put first.”
Locals have called for the creation of a bypass to divert the trucks away from the residential centre; they have done so for years with little to no response from governments.
To make matters worse, the most recent move from the State Government shows they wish to allow space for even more quarries.
The recent event has forced Cardinia Shire Council to impose itself more forcefully on the matter by calling for the Lang Lang Truck Bypass to be constructed before any new quarry is approved.
The State Government has been silent so far, and locals have now shifted their attention federally as the election nears.
But will those in Canberra listen to Lang Lang’s pleas?
-A heavy burden with little return
The State Government is attempting to secure the expansion of Lang Lang’s mining, and it isn’t without good reason.
They are eager to do so, as places like Lang Lang will fuel the insatiable need for raw materials as Melbourne’s population continues to grow rapidly.
Lang Lang’s sand will be processed into the great slabs of concrete that will frame the new high rises in the inner city and the next big build sites.
Melbourne is expected to double in population by 2050 to reach 10 million and the State Government flagged years ago the potential shortages of raw materials.
In 2024, they fast-tracked the approval of the first new, large quarry in Melbourne for over two decades.
That quarry is located in Lang Lang, just off the South Gippsland Highway.
It contributed to the steady 14 per cent increase in quarry production in Victoria expected year-on-year over the next three years, reaching an annual production record of 73.6 million tonnes of rock, sand and gravel.
The Lang Lang District Business and Community Group has been the leading local group calling for the bypass.
President Travis Davidge wants to make it clear that the group does not oppose the mines, nor their potential expansion, as they undoubtedly bring significant economic opportunity to the town.
However, sand mines have been operating in Lang Lang for decades and the group feels it is time for the town to get something in return.
“We understand that the resources are needed, we just want some support for our town as we go forward,” Davidge said.
“It makes sense that if you’ve got this size of vehicles, you wouldn’t have them running through the main street of a town.
“There have been no major incidents recently and we don’t blame the truck drivers, but it only takes one thing for it to go wrong.”
The need for a bypass is set to only increase as State Government departments are moving to allow more sand extraction in Lang Lang.
In recent years, the Department of Transport allowed the permitted length of a truck through Westernport Road to increase from 26 metres (roughly the length of a B-double) to 36.5 metres.
They did this without any consultation with the community or the council.
The true reality of how important sand is didn’t set in until October last year, when the Planning Department unveiled the draft Strategic Extractive Resource Area (SERA).
This was a proposal to rezone large sections of Lang Lang not only to solidify the permits of existing mines but to secure mining’s significant expansion into the future.
One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, bought their first house in Lang Lang and moved in last October.
One of the first letters to appear in their letterbox was a notice of the draft SERA.
“At certain places in the house, I can hear the trucks all night. I was told there were two near misses with a truck recently,” they said.
“We came here for the peace and quiet of a rural lifestyle and affordability, why should that be jeopardised for resources?”
In the SERA, a State Resource Overlay was split into three areas with the largest being around the eastern side of Lang Lang, where trucks pass through Westernport Road to access South Gippsland Highway.
The draft SERA was met with opposition from the community, who felt they were being trampled for the needs of the big city.
The council recognises the need for the industry, but Mayor Kowarzik asks, “How many trucks on Lang Lang roads is too many?”
“Currently, we have no way of regulating the number of trucks using the road through the shopping precinct, leading to increased traffic congestion, heightened safety risks for residents, and potential environmental damage,” he said.
“Similar situations elsewhere have shown that unregulated quarry traffic can lead to accidents, infrastructure damage, and significant environmental harm.
“The unchecked expansion of sand mining could exacerbate these issues, severely impacting the quality of life in our township.
“This is why a bypass is desperately needed. Without it, our community faces an uncertain and potentially hazardous future.”
It did not help the State Government’s case that the SERA also proposed to strip any appeal rights from the public, even from the council, around these new sand mines if they were outside of a small buffer zone.
These details and much more were revealed, yet there was no mention of the Lang Lang Truck Bypass, a project that has been sought for almost two decades, well before the SERA was ever imagined.
This town of only a few thousand sits on an invaluable resource that could drive considerable wealth through the town, yet the calls for safety and amenity have had little response.
-No new mines until bypass
The State Government didn’t pick a good time for feedback on the SERA.
It was exhibited over several weeks during September and October 2024, which just so happened to be when councils were in the middle of elections.
During these times when councillors largely suspend their roles as they campaign, the council offices enter a “caretaker mode” where they reduce their activities to routine administration, limit their public profile and withhold any major executive decisions.
The council was in caretaker mode when the SERA’s consultation ended and the State Government received no submission from the local authority.
The council persisted when it returned from elections and would make their submission after the deadline in December, which the State Government accepted.
They were still not very pleased as the council submission called for the consultation to be entirely redone.
The central demand was for the bypass to be fully completed, not just started, before any new or extended sand mine is approved.
Much of the planning has already been started by the council, the bypass was incorporated into the Lang Lang Township Strategy adopted in 2009.
The bypass is mapped out to wrap around the south of Lang Lang; turning off Westernport Road to go around the Lang Lang Rifle Club, over McDonalds Track and to re-enter Westernport Road passed the Showgrounds.
Most of the land is already in the hands of the council, acquired through permit conditions on new subdivisions.
This was down over many years, but even with all the time in the world, the council could never afford to do it themselves.
Furthermore, existing permits make the rest of the land difficult to acquire, the council is also calling on the State Government to use their powers to acquire the rest.
One of the sources they have tried to raise funds for the bypass has been through imposing levies on the mines themselves.
This process has been difficult on the council as they have reported having to pursue the levies “aggressively” through VCAT, arguing over some quarry permits that date back to the Shire of Cranbourne.
It’s a project with two stages split geographically between either side of McDonalds Track.
Expected to cost over $40 million in total, the council puts a two to three-year timeline on the construction.
The council is calling for the State and Federal Governments to fund one stage each, at a cost of $24 million from both.
“This is a significant project that requires the support of the incoming Federal Government to achieve a range of economic and social benefits, including supporting this major sand extraction industry which will help the State and Federal Governments deliver infrastructure projects and support housing development across the south east region,” Mayor Kowarzik said.
“The project will also result in more jobs and economic opportunity and, most importantly, will significantly improve the health, well-being and safety of local residents and the liveability of the local community.”
-Left out at the end of the shire
Though arguably the most pressing, the bypass is not the only issue in the small town of Lang Lang.
From police presence to a local volunteer service shutting down, there is a lot that Lang Lang residents have been agitated about in the last few years.
Residents have expressed to the Gazette before a feeling of being left out and Lang Lang seemingly treated as just the “end of the shire.”
Whether or not residents will continue to feel that way can be decided by the aspiring pollies this federal election.
Both major parties are throwing cash at major road works. The Labor Party is slowly unveiling different projects as part of their $1.2 billion road blitz in Victoria.
Several of the ones already announced sit right outside the La Trobe electorate in the neighbouring and more marginal seats of Holt and Monash.
The Liberals also have billions to promise after Dutton said he will withdraw over $2 billion of federal funding for the Suburban Rail Loop if elected.
La Trobe MP Jason Wood said a Coalition Government will establish a $600 million fund dedicated to road upgrades for mining and agriculture.
“Projects like Cardinia Shire Council’s Lang Lang Truck Bypass would be able to apply to the Ag & Mining Roads program,” he said.
Minister for Infrastructure Catherine King and Labor candidate for La Trobe, Jeff Springfield, were contacted for comment.
