Who we are
We are a community group formed by concerned residents who live on and around Williamstown Road in Seddon, Kingsville and Yarraville. Our group comprises a diverse representation of the local community in Melbourne’s Inner West.
Our Mission
Our mission is to increase the health and wellbeing of the community living around Williamstown Road and to preserve the amenity of the Inner West for all. We demand 24-hour truck bans on Williamstown Road consistent with every other road in the City of Maribyrnong.
OUR HISTORY
April 2019
Save Willy Road established by a group of concerned residents in response to a VicRoads proposal (presented to the Millers Road-Williamstown Road Corridor Study Working Group, which had first met in September 2018) to introduce clearways on Williamstown Road between Somerville Road and Geelong Road.
Save Willy Road group defined its mission, goals and activities relating to future truck traffic effects of the West Gate Tunnel. Individuals volunteered for steering group.
Appeals made to Melissa Horne MP resulted in clearway proposal being withdrawn.
May 2019
Formal participation in Maribyrnong City Council meeting where Save Willy Road questions were addressed and several Councillors expressed support for group's concerns. Further meetings with individual councillors during May.
Correspondence sent to Roads Minister Jaala Pulford demanding review of Corridor Study Reference Group Terms of Reference.
June 2019
Meeting with Maribyrnong City Council Councillors and staff. Save Willy Road demanded Council moved to protect the community. Council agreed to continue to meet and develop advocacy position.
Save Willy Road website created.
July 2019
Maribyrnong City Councillors unanimously voted to support advocacy position that was drafted by Executive team in consultation with Save Willy Road.
New Terms of Reference drafted by VicRoads for the Millers and Williamstown Corridor Study - Working Group in response to Save Willy Road concerns. The ToR states: “The working group will now operate for a further 12 months until August 2020.”
The Age featured the concerns of Save Willy Road.
August 2019
Campaign signs distributed along Williamstown Road and surrounds.
State government endorsed Cleaner Freight Initiative to impose truck curfews on Williamstown Road and Buckley Street and impose access restrictions on older, higher-polluting trucks on inner west roads. The initiative was developed by the Victorian Transport Association and the Maribyrnong Truck Action Group.
Mailing list established and over 100 households subscribed.
December 2019
Minister for Roads Jaala Pulford announced the Smart Freight Initiative was being shelved and told Save Willy Road that Williamstown Road would never be granted truck curfews.
January 2020
Department of Transport announced that the Corridor Study working group had been closed without any actions taken or a statement given on future developments.
Save Willy Road met with the EPA to raise our concerns. We were supported by members from Doctors for the Environment and Melbourne University’s Lung Health Research Team.
MARCH 2020
Meeting with MP for Footscray Katie Hall on prospects of Grieve Parade extension and possible relocation of Tottenham/Brooklyn container yards.
Requests made to Victoria Police and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator for night-time speed enforcement on Williamstown Rd as hundreds of massive interstate freight trucks are diverted nightly from the West Gate Freeway down Williamstown Rd. The overnight closures continue sporadically, then continuously for four weeks from August to September. The only response from authorities is to place electronic messaging signs requesting truck drivers to obey speed limits.
APRIL 2020
Meeting with Andrew Newman, director ports, freight and intermodal at Freight Victoria, to discuss the government strategy for the relocation of container yards.
DECEMBER 2020
After nine months of delay, a Freedom of Information request by Save Willy Road resulted in the release of the first set of documents and emails pertaining to the Millers Road-Williamstown Road Corridor Study, providing long-awaited insights into a process the Department of Transport has fought hard to keep secret. The documents revealed a co-ordinated spin campaign employing half-truths and outright deceptions. (See News page for further detail).
MARCH 2021
Save Willy Road lodged a formal complaint with the Victorian Ombudsman over the running of the Millers Road-Williamstown Road Corridor Study. The complaint detailed the series of serious failings of the process, including VicRoads’ failure to abide by its Terms of Reference, its abandonment of an agreed working structure that would have included decision-making input from local councils and other agencies, and its lack of transparency once it had shut the process down. After extensive discussions with Save Willy Road, the Ombudsman’s office advised it would not mount a full investigation but would pursue the Department of Transport to release the Final Report of the Corridor Study.
MAY 2021
The Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) ordered the Department of Transport to release two further key documents that Save Willy Road had sought under FOI. OVIC told the department: “Any sensitivity associated with the road project would be better addressed by promoting transparency rather than maintaining secrecy.” One of the documents is a briefing to the Roads Minister on the Corridor Study; it revealed the department had planned a major $4.8m works program including a Millers Road/Geelong Road intersection upgrade as well as pedestrian safety upgrades at two locations on Williamstown Road but had then scrapped the works.
JULY 2021
Save Willy Road sought answers from senior Department of Transport official over the sudden spike in volumes of 36m-long road trains using Williamstown Road. The officer advised that the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator has been asked to step up enforcement to ensure operators are not using Williamstown Road without a valid permit.
AUGUST 2021
Save Willy Road Steering Committee met Melissa Horne MP and a representative of Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan for an update on government initiatives to reduce truck volumes on Williamstown Road once the tunnel opens.
We made a new FOI request for the Corridor Study Final Report. The report, we were told, remained in draft form despite being all but completed in October 2019 and awaiting a “final polish”.
october 2021
The state government bowed to pressure from OVIC and the Ombudsman and released the final report of the Corridor Study. The report included recommendations on traffic measures that could help to minimise the expected onslaught of trucks on Williamstown Road after the opening of the West Gate Tunnel. None have been implemented; nor has the government committed to implementing any of those measures. (See news page for details and link to to the report).
NOVEMBER 2021
Ports and Freight Minister Melissa Horne met with Maribyrnong Truck Action Group and Save Willy Road for a briefing on the release of a comprehensive consultants’ report on the supply chain of empty shipping containers, which make up a significant proportion of container truck movements through the inner west. The meeting was told Freight Victoria was urging the operators of empty container parks in Tottenham and Brooklyn to relocate to avoid disruption from future 24/7 truck bans on some inner west roads.
october 2022
West Gate Tunnel Project responded to a request from Save Willy Road for a progress report on a range of traffic mitigation measures recommended by the Planning Minister when he approved the tunnel project in 2017. The bleak news was that none of those measures had been implemented. (See news page for details and links to documents).
october 2022
Save Willy Road asked Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan to install an air quality monitoring station on Williamstown Road to establish baseline air quality data before the tunnel opens and truck traffic increases. Baseline data is crucial to prove a deterioration in air quality, which should then trigger mitigation measures. Seven months later, in May 2023, the minister replied, refusing that request. Clearly, the government does not want to gather information that could prove any adverse effects from its $10 billion project.
march 2023
Save Willy Road wrote to Barry Cook, from GHD Pty Ltd, who co-authored a crucial air quality report for the tunnel project’s 2017 Environment Effects Statement. We pointed out deeply flawed conclusions in his report based on inaccurate truck data and patently false assumptions about air quality on Williamstown Road once the tunnel is operational. Those flawed conclusions have been the basis of subsequent government claims that air quality on this road will not deteriorate, despite the presence of thousands of extra trucks daily. Cook forwarded the report to the tunnel project, which has given no response.
september 2024
Attempts to discover the effectiveness of GPS monitoring of superlong A-Double freight trucks on suburban roads by transport regulatory bodies — which should trigger enforcement action against operators taking road trains on Williamstown Road without a permit — came to a dead end. Regulatory bodies explained they were forbidden by law to reveal any statistics on road access breaches by rogue operators. (Details in news section).
january 2025
In a response to Save Willy Road, the Roads Minister, Melissa Horne, confirmed — and defended — her department’s decision to issue a permit for more 36m-long road trains to use Williamstown Road. The move to approve massive trucks carrying two 40-foot containers past homes, shops and schools further undermined the government’s boast that it is “taking trucks off local streets”.
march 2025
With the tunnel opening just months away, Save Willy Road asked Minister Horne to detail what steps the government would take if, as projected, there was a surge in the number of truck operators exiting the freeway to use Geelong Road and Williamstown Road to avoid new freeway tolling points that could cost truck operators more than $100 a day. We urged her to consider implementing night curfews and lowering the speed limit on Williamstown Road to 40km/h to deter truck operators rat-running past homes. She replied that there were no plans for a night curfew and that the existing 50km/h speed limit was appropriate.
march 2025
We requested through the West Gate Tunnel Community Liaison Group the latest counts on Williamstown Road of truck traffic and all traffic; an assurance that traffic counts will continue to be publicly available once the tunnel opens; and information on how adverse impacts on travel times are being minimised. The last two requests are for information that is a mandatory requirement under the terms of the tunnel project’s approval. As of June 2025 there has been no response.
april 2025
Save Willy Road attended an EPA community information session in Brooklyn about the West Gate Tunnel exhaust ventilation system. At the meeting EPA senior scientist Dr Paul Torre told a group of Yarraville residents that Williamstown Road and Millers Road had been “sacrificed” for the sake of the West Gate Tunnel project. The bald statement — shocking as it was — confirmed the view of concerned Williamstown Road residents and was a rare moment of candour from a state official about the government’s disregard for this community.
Our values
Save Willy Road is committed to providing a welcoming and supportive environment for all people, regardless of background or identity. All of our activities will be convivial, family-friendly and legal. By participating in this group and its activities, participants accept to abide by our Code of Conduct. Any form or behaviour to exclude, intimidate, or cause discomfort is a violation of the Code of Conduct. In order to foster a positive and professional environment we encourage the following kinds of behaviours at all Save Willy Road events:
Use welcoming and inclusive language
Be respectful of different viewpoints and experiences
Gracefully accept constructive criticism
Focus on what is best for the community
Show courtesy and respect towards other community members.
If you believe someone is violating the Code of Conduct, we ask that you speak with a member of the Steering Committee who will take the appropriate action to address the situation.