THE mayors of Vincent and Cambridge have banded together to try and convince the Cook government to overhaul the Leederville train station.

Vincent mayor Alison Xamon and Cambridge mayor Gary Mack have written to premier Roger Cook, transport minister Rita Saffioti and planning minister John Carey saying the aged station is holding up the revitalisation of the surrounding precinct.

Ms Xamon said there had been a big focus on the Leederville town centre after her council’s decision in November last year to sell its Frame Court and The Avenue carparks for a transit oriented development.

“One of the things we are keen to do is to tap into the state government’s interest in supporting transit oriented developments and ask that key consideration be given to prioritising an upgrade – not just an upgrade, but a complete re-do of the Leederville train station,” Ms Xamon said.

“People would know that the Leederville train station is pretty old; I would say that the disability access is pretty woeful.

“At the moment it really doesn’t serve the precinct very well, particularly in terms of providing an attractive option between the Town of Cambridge and connecting up with the City of Vincent.

“At the moment the pedestrian overpass at Leederville doesn’t have any shelter, it’s not particularly safe, and as I say the lack of disability access is a particular concern.”

• A decade ago Vincent and Cambridge came up with this plan for a link, but it went nowhere.

Ms Xamon noted there was another state election in one year’s time, and said she’d love to see “duelling announcements” from Labor and the Opposition about upgrades to the station.

It’s not the first time the two councils have teamed up to try and improve their linkage, as they’re split by the Mitchell Freeway and only have the spaghetti loop of a footbridge that takes some serious effort to cross.

Back in 2011 Cambridge produced plans for a $5.5 million pedestrian decking or a $13m viaduct bridge which could later be upgraded to allow traffic to cross as well.

The plans were rubber-stamped by Vincent councillors despite the concerns of then-councillor, now-state planning minister Carey, who described them as “pie in the sky”.

by STEVE GRANT