COMMUNITY DECIDES TO FIGHT BTS EXPANSION PLANS

At a community meeting on Monday 7^th February, local residents unanimously agreed to oppose plans by the power companies to build a new 66kV facility on the Brunswick Terminal Station site. Whether above ground or underground, it was agreed that this residential and environmentally sensitive site is simply not the appropriate place for such a development to take place, and we will be calling on our representatives at Local, State and Federal government levels to support our position.

This decisions was taken by way of a formal motion, proposed by Robert Downing and seconded by Chris Black that stated:

This meeting opposes an expansion of the Brunswick Terminal Station (and its continuation) in an inner residential area. We call on the representatives of our community to wage an ongoing campaign to resist such development

The motion was unanimously carried without objection.

This was preceded by a presentation by Dr Anne Voss (Alister Street resident) outlining discussions between the power companies and the representative resident group to date. Colin Abbott also spoke about the history of successful resident action in getting the power lines put underground from Brunswick to Richmond, and Ray Colodetti outlined his concerns about the the consultation process to date and the possible long term consequences of allowing the development to go ahead. There was then discussion about the best course of action for residents – either to continue in discussions/negotiations with the power companies about their proposals or to actively oppose the expansion project in principle.

Reasons canvassed for opposing the project include that it was felt the power companies had been ignoring or dismissing many of the valid concerns raised by residents in the past six months, and that there was little faith that basic things like an environmental or health safety impact statement would be prepared before the proposal is finalised. Furthermore, alternative sites are known to be available in industrial areas around Melbourne, and it would appear to be much cheaper, quicker and less intrusive for the power companies to locate their new facility in these areas rather than in a residential area adjacent to the Merri Creek.

While the resident group has taken part in five formal meetings, and many more hours of discussions with representatives from the power companies and other local authorities, it was felt that none of the alternative options being proposed for the Brunswick site would satisfy resident concerns about the environmental, health and amenity impacts of the new development. We are therefore urging all residents to similarly make their opposition to the project known, through the formal consultation processes put in place by the power companies (including a community consultation on Thursday 10 March) and by contacting their local members of Council and Parliament. Jane Garrett MP (Member for Brunswick) has already raised the issue in State Parliament and is following this up with the new Minister for Energy and Resources.

More details about the campaign to oppose this development will be made available on the blogsite, http://powergridsolutions.blogspot.com/ in coming weeks.