His house and up to 33 others are on land repeatedly identified since 2002 in government documents as a possible site for the north Eveleigh ''dive'', an access point that would link a second rail tunnel to be built under the CBD to the planned Western Express route to carry services from Penrith and Richmond.

Mr Cannon was ''gutted'' when he and other residents learnt from a Herald article last month that their homes could be marked for compulsory acquisition. The first communication residents had from the government was a flyer from Transport NSW in letterboxes on June 23, which said no final decision had been made and that ''extensive'' community consultation would occur first.

 

On legal advice, Mr Cannon suspended work. With water seeping into a major excavation and the house partly demolished, he is in limbo, awaiting the government's decision. He is also $100,000 poorer, with a mortgage on a house he can't live in, and some sympathetic but very nervous neighbours.

More galling, Mr Cannon said, is the fact that RailCorp explicitly approved his development application in November. He had to comply with RailCorp's stringent requirements to get development consent for work so close to the train lines.

''When exactly were they going to tell us?'' he asked. ''We never would have started if we'd known. The place was liveable before. What's its market value now?''

Under the state's Land Acquisition Act, a homeowner will be paid the market value of the land at the date of acquisition.

The area was first earmarked for demolition by a superseded 2002 report. But the concept plan for north Eveleigh includes detailed drawings showing an alignment that would affect homes in Leamington Avenue and Pine and Holdsworth streets, near Macdonaldtown station. It was approved by then planning minister Kristina Keneally in December 2008.

Fifteen houses have changed hands in the streets since then.

A RailCorp report from 2005 on the Metropolitan Rail Expansion Program also shows the area as part of a ''corridor for protection'' to be reserved for rail infrastructure. However, a spokesman for NSW Transport said detailed feasibility studies were under way now and no final decisions had been made.

''Previous studies conducted on behalf of RailCorp in relation to potential alignments around Eveleigh have been superseded and will not be used,'' he said.

Residents have been told a decision on the fate of their homes will be made by September but the spokesman would not confirm this date.

A Marrickville Greens councillor, Fiona Byrne, who is challenging the Deputy Premier, Carmel Tebbutt, for the inner-west seat of Marrickville, said: ''There's no need to put these residents through this heartache. We have the Eveleigh rail yards sitting idle. That's the perfect space for this particular rail infrastructure.''

Ms Tebbutt said the best outcome would be realigning the work away from private property.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/national/tunnel-proposal-brings-digs-to-a-halt-20100721-10la3.html