Bayside City Council received a letter on 3 August 2009 from the State Government appointed Panel, consisting of Thomas Sargant, Deputy Director Public Transport, and Phillip Jordan, Road Safety International, which in summary stated that:

• The Panel is of the understanding that Council is in dispute (as per the Road Management Act 2004) with Connex and VicTrack.
• Council is requested to advise whether or not it intends to commission further expert reports.
• The Panel will make its considerations based on written submissions from each of the parties. 
• A face-to-face meeting is sought with senior Council staff.
• VicRoads have been requested to provide the Panel with a report regarding the major roads in the area of the Crossing and how these roads might be impacted by the Crossing.
• A Guideline to the Process and a list of Understood Facts is included.
• The contact point for the Dispute resolution process is the Department of Transport Legal Division.

In the second week of September 2009, the Mayor and Council representatives met with the State appointed independent Panel and outlined for the matters of concern to Council and the community, including the length of time that the matter has remained unresolved, the increasingly strong community opinion that the intersection should be re-opened as soon as possible; and the considerable inconvenience caused as there are no right turns from Beach Road travelling north until Were Street.

It was agreed at the meeting, that in October 2009 Council will provide to the Panel the results of an expert report from O’Brien Consultants on the traffic impacts to the local road network post closure of the New Street Gates.

It is expected that the Panel will finalise its report mid-November. The Panel also confirmed that any obligations on Connex as the current rail operator will transfer to the new operator when they enter the new contract on 30 November 2009.