The ALP has just announced this afternoon, Monday, that a returned Brumby Government will examine the feasibility of alternatives to the current site & design. Post election, the incoming Minister for Energy's office will look at all the options and think creatively about how the Government can use its powers and land bank etc to get an outcome in everyone's interest. Let's hope alternative sites will be seriously looked at (not necessarily just the old Whelans tip site).
This is a real win for the Merri Creek community, surrounding areas and users of the creek valley.
This opens up the opportunity for the facility to be relocated entirely and provides further impetus for our campaign.
The Government has finally accepted that the existing "consultation" process is going to deliver a bumpy ride for everyone & that if it comes to the table with an open mind it can balance the competing interests.
Hip-hip Hooray!
LABOR TO GUARANTEE COMMUNITY INPUT INTO BRUNSWICK TERMINAL STATION REDEVELOPMENT
08/11/2010
Minister for Energy and Resources Peter Batchelor said today that a future Brumby Labor Government would work with all parties involved in the upgrade to the Brunswick Terminal Station to examine alternatives.
Mr Batchelor said that Labor Candidate for Brunswick Jane Garrett and Member for Northcote Fiona Richardson had made spirited representations on behalf of local residents concerned about the visual appearance, height of the proposed upgrade and the impact on local parklands.
“It is important to balance out the needs of the local community with the need for a secure energy supply able to meet the demands of a growing population,” Mr Batchelor said.
While the upgrade of the Brunswick Terminal Station has been planned for some time to boost the supply of power to the CBD, a community backlash earlier this year had forced energy companies CitiPower and SP AusNet to rethink plans to build a dozen 25 metre steel towers at its site along the Merri Creek in Brunswick East.
Labor Candidate for Brunswick Jane Garrett said that the local community and activists that had rallied around the upgrade of the Brunswick Terminal Station issue wanted a say in the design and were keen that alternatives were seriously considered.
“Local people feel passionate about Brunswick as a place to live and the Merri Creek and the green spaces are a real treasure,” Ms Garrett said.
“I welcome the commitment from the Minister for Energy and Resources that a future Brumby Labor Government will mediate the local community’s desire for public open spaces and sensitive urban planning with the critical importance of maintaining continuity of electricity supply for Melbourne.”
Ms Garrett said she would also take up the issue with Federal Minister Martin Ferguson who has oversight of the Australian Energy Market Operator, the planner for the Victorian electricity transmission network.
The upgrade is needed to give Melbourne a robust and secure power network and to minimise the risk of widespread outages. An engineer’s report found that two outages in 2001 in the Melbourne CBD that affected tens of thousands of customers, and cost millions of dollars to the economy, would have been avoided had the proposed upgrade to the electricity network been made.
