A PUBLIC “hands off our parks” rally has been organised as concerns grow about where construction sites for the Western Harbour Tunnel will be located.

Residents in Balmain, Rozelle and Birchgrove fear open space could be grabbed by Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) for an “intermediate” tunnelling site or a ventilation stack.

The state government wants to build a road tunnel from the WestConnex interchange at Rozelle before crossing under Sydney Harbour between Birchgrove and Waverton.

Property owners have already been warned by a community group opposed to the tunnel that a ventilation stack could be built near homes on the peninsula.

Rozelle Against WestConnex (RAW) believes a dive tunnel us needed on the peninsula because the length of the tunnel between Rozelle and the nearest landfall on the northern side (of the harbour) is nearly 4km.

“This makes a peninsular dive site a real possibility,” RAW’s convener Peter Hehir said.

media_camera The proposed route of the Western Harbour Tunnel and its links to WestConnex and the proposed Beaches Link tunnel.

Inner West Council administrator Richard Pearson said the council is opposed to the new harbour tunnel.

“RMS has said that any tunnel construction site will be in the Harbour not at Birchgrove Oval and that there will be an exhaust stack at Rozelle Railyards not on the Balmain peninsula,” Mr Pearson said.

“While the community is right to be cynical about these kind of commitments given the changing game plan which accompanies WestConnex, Council takes these commitments at face value and will hold the RMS responsible for not reneging on them.”

media_camera Proposed green space at the former Rozelle Rail Yards with a possible ventilation facility in the background.

The public rally, to be held at Birchgrove Tennis Centre at 3pm on Saturday, June 17, is being hosted by Darcy Byrne, the leading Labor candidate for the Inner West Council elections in September

“We need to send a strong message right now that residents ... will not stand for any loss of our parks and open space or any ventilation stacks being built in our area,” Mr Byrne said.

RMS said there will be no tunnel exhaust vents in the area and only ruled out Birchgrove Oval as a potential work site.

media_camera Even though RMS has ruled out using Birchgrove Oval as a construction site, residents fear other parks on the peninsula may turned into Western Harbour Tunnel work sites. Picture: Craig Wilson

Balmain state Greens MP Jamie Parker said the RMS statement confirms that it is are actively looking for midpoint tunnel sites on the Balmain peninsula.

“This is just another proposal from a car-fixated government that seems incapable of any genuine commitment to public transport,” Mr Parker said.

“This is especially the case in this project as government has specifically directed the Department not to examine any public transport alternatives.”