New NOBTS66 Website

This site is no longer in use, for all current and future information about the NOBTS66 campaign please visit our new website at www.nobrunswickterminalstation.org

Incident on 3-4-12 Letter to Citipower from Ray Collodetti

Good Morning Neil,

I wish to lodge a formal complaint around an incident that occurred this morning on Nicholson Street.

Just before 9am this morning I was on my way for my morning coffee when I noticed 2 workmen in a white utility removing the NOBTS66 campaign sign from the corner of Nicholson and Miller Street, East Brunswick.

I took note that they did not look like council workmen, and their vehicle did not look like a council vehicle.

I went for coffee then I went to my meeting organised for the corner of Nicholson Street and Holden Street, for 9.30am.

I looked across the traffic lanes and noticed the same utility, with the same 2 workmen inside stopped at the lights.

I approached them and asked for our campaign signs to be returned. The response I received was no, they would not be returned as the signs were their property.

After I took a few photo’s, standing in front of the utility, taking a photo of the front of the utility when the car lurched forward towards me.

I stepped out of the way , the lights turned green and the utility moved off but stopped a few meters on the other side of the intersection and both men got out of the car, and moved to remove the next sign.

I approached them on foot and asked that they leave the sign alone.

The driver yelled at me to stay away and approached me as I was walking towards them.

I was then prodded in the chest and yelled at to go away.  I was confronted by the driver yelling at me at close range whilst prodding me. I told him to not touch me. He then withdrew and made a phone call.

The passenger told me not to get angry with them, that they were just doing what they were told to do.

I told them quietly, that I wasn’t angry with them and understood that the directive had come from their superior.

The driver finished his phone call and motioned to his passenger to get in the car and they drove off.

I felt intimidated, threatened and assaulted by the workmen.
At no time did they identify themselves to me or respond in a quiet tone of voice.

Their tone was initially loud and aggressive, shouting and pointing, prodding and chesting me.

The signs do not belong to me, they are as awareness to the campaign for the greater public.

What do you have to fear from being scrutinised?

Why is your company acting in this way?

So much for civilised discussions and behaviour.

Why did works begin on this project in July last year, months before any formal approval?

Yours Faithfully

Ramon Collodetti,

Spokesperson
Merri Creek Residents Group.

Letter to the Premier from John Kavanagh

Letter to the Premier from Friends of Merri Creek

Letter to the Premier from The City of Darbin

Letter to the Premier from The City of Yara

Letter to the Premier from Fiona Richardson

Letter to the Premier from Jane Garret

Letter to the Premier from Robin Scott

Update on the Petition

Just an update on how many people have now signed the petition and what has happened to the signatures.

2287 have now been tabled in Parliament.

Additionally, there are a further 236 in the electorate office that have come in this week

So now over 2,500 have signed the petition!

Kind Regards

Danny Michell - Electorate Officer
Office of Jane Garrett MP - State Member for Brunswick

Ceres Autumn Harvest Festival this Sat 31 Mar.

Come down to the Ceres Autumn Harvest Festival this Sat 31 Mar. We will have a stall setup so that you can find out more about the BTS 66 issue and sign the petition.


http://www.ceres.org.au/Harvest

Brunswick terminal battle: Moreland calls in legal eagles

BY CHRIS HINGSTON

20 Mar, 2012 04:00 AM

MORELAND City Council will urgently seek legal advice to reverse the Brunswick Terminal Station expansion.

The council wants to explore options should it decide to fight Planning Minister Matthew Guy's decision to approve the terminal upgrade.

Moreland City council will also ask Yarra and Darebin councils for support on the decision to seek legal counsel.

Last month Mr Guy approved the $271 million terminal expansion, rezoning the land from residential to special use.

Mr Guy said the decision ensured the security of electricity supply to Melbourne's inner-east and the CBD.

Proposals to upgrade the terminal station had twice been rejected by Moreland City Council's planning committee.

Last week the council agreed to allocate up to $5000 to seek counsel on the legality of Mr Guy's decision, to see if any options existed to fight the expansion.

The motion was put forward by South Ward councillor Lambros Tapinos, who said he was shocked and appalled by Mr Guy's decision to rezone the land.

"What the minister has done is effectively change the rules," he said.

Yarra City mayor Geoff Barbour said all funding requests would have to be considered at a council meeting.

"Yarra has plenty of its own planning battles but we know many of our residents are concerned about this one on our doorstep," he said.

"If we are not able to provide funding for the legal advice, we will continue to support the community campaign in other ways," he said.

Mr Guy's office declined to comment.

LINK TO ORIGINAL MELBOURNE TIMES ARTICLE

Moreland Council Takes Action On BTS Rezoning

Congratulations to Moreland Council for taking a strong stand about the rezoning of the BTS site. At the March Council meeting on March 15 it took a decision along the following lines:

Moreland City Council is shocked and appalled at the decision made by the Victorian Planning Minister, Matthew Guy, on February 15 2012 to unilaterally rezone the Brunswick Terminal Station site from 'Residential 1', to 'Special Use Zone' giving the go-ahead for the Terminal Station's redevelopment and quadrupling of its capacity. Moreland City Council, as the statutory planning authority, has twice considered and rejected this planning proposal due to environmental, health and community concerns and as it is a totally inappropriate development in a residential area and bounding the Merri Creek Linear Parklands.

The rezoning of the site has the intent of preventing any further administrative or judicial review. As this decision removes Moreland City Council as the planning authority, Council must determine what future actions are open to it to prevent this totally inappropriate development from taking place. Therefore it is moved:

"i) that Council seek a Legal Opinion, as a matter of urgency, from a suitably and experienced Legal Counsel about the legality of the Minister's decision and to establish if there are avenues Council can realistically pursue. An amount of up to $5,000 be allocated for such an Opinion. Council will then decide on any future action it may take based on this Opinion.

ii) the neighbouring municipalities of Darebin and Yarra border on the Terminal Station site which also adversely impacts on their residents. Moreland Council calls on these 2 neighbouring Councils to join with Moreland in seeking a Legal Opinion about the legality of the rezoning and invites them to contribute to the cost of the Opinion thereby making it a joint undertaking of the 3 affected inner-urban Councils on behalf of their residents. A letter encompassing this preamble and motion should be sent by the Mayor to Darebin and Yarra Councils requesting their involvement.

iii) Up to 2 representatives of the Merri Creek Residents Group be invited to participate in the preliminary briefing of the Legal Counsel.

iv) a copy of this preamble and motion be sent to Jane Garrett MLA, Kelvin Thompson MHR, Fiona Richardson MLA, Adam Bandt MHR, Jenny Mikakos MLC, Shadow Minister for Planning Brian Tee MLC and the Merri Creek Residents Group."


While this may not be the exact wording of Council's resolution, it is expected to be close. Hopefully the Residents Group will be hearing from Council soon. People who know Darebin and Yarra councillors should be encouraged to urge these 2 cities to join Moreland's initiative.

Letter to the Premier from Kelvin Thomson (Labour Member for Wills)

Support for resident summit with Premier on Brunswick Terminal Station

08 March 2012

Yarra Council is calling on the Victorian Premier to meet with residents who are deeply concerned by the Planning Minister’s approval of an expanded electricity substation in Brunswick.

Mayor Geoff Barbour said Council had resolved at its meeting on Tuesday night to write to Premier Ted Baillieu requesting that he meet with representatives of the Merri Creek Residents Group to discuss the community impacts of the Minister’s decision.

Cr Barbour said while the electricity substation was in neighbouring Moreland, many Yarra residents were concerned about the potential health and environmental impacts of expanding the substation.

“We don’t think it is asking too much for the Premier to sit down with residents and really listen to their concerns," Cr Barbour said.

He said Yarra Council was horrified that the Planning Minister had intervened to approve a controversial development that had been refused by Moreland Council.

“Councils are the best barometer of how a community feels on an issue, so to override a Council decision is to override the community’s wishes,” he said.

Read the story in full here.

Call for Volunteers

The NOBTS66 campaign is seeking volunteers to help IMMEDIATELY with distributing petitions and collecting signatures. We have a list of schools, kinders, cafes and other organisations along the transmission lines and in the local area that need to be contacted and have petitions dropped off. If you can spare an hour or more of your time it would be GREATLY appreciated. Please call Liz Shackleton directly on 0415 824 593 or email liz.shackleton@mac.com if you are able to help.

Also we are currently printing up NOBTS66 campaign posters so you will soon have the opportunity to purchase one and put it in your front yard (or wherever else you wish!) This is the time to make your views known – it’s NOT SAFE, NOT RIGHT and NOT ON!

Finally thanks to all those residents who turned up at super short notice for filming of the Channel 7 news story on Saturday. It made a big impact and the footage is getting sent far and wide.

The Merri Creek Residents Group

Letter to the Premier from Adam Bandt

Adam Bandt has written to the Premier. Read the full letter by downloading the pdf here
Dear Premier,
Re: Brunswick Terminal Station
Residents in the northern part of my electorate of Melbourne have expressed to me their dismay and concern about the decision on 15 February of the Victorian Minister for Planning to rezone the land on which the Brunswick Terminal Station is located and approve the building of a new 66kV terminal station.

Channel 7 TV News coverage

To see the Channel 7 news coverage of the No BTS 66 campaign click the link below

http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/national/-/watch/28495970/residents-show-own-power/

Government claims debating the BTS issue in Parliament ‘a waste of their time’

The Minister’s decision to rezone the BTS and allow the development to proceed was ‘debated’ in the Upper House of State Parliament earlier this week. While Labor and Greens members took the disallowance motion seriously, it is clear that Government members treated the whole issue as an annoyance, and us – their constituents – with contempt. The Minister didn’t even bother to speak on the issue, his comments restricted to interjecting when other members were speaking and encouraging Liberal members to turn the debate into a farce. See full transcript below (if you can bear seeing how appalling the level of ‘debate’ is in our State Parliament). In summary, Opposition Spokesman for Planning, Brian Tee moved a motion to disallow the Ministers decision, and this was supported by Greg Barber (Greens), Jenny Mikakos (Labor) and Nasi Elasmar (Labor). Naturally the government won the vote at the end of the ‘debate’ given they have more members in the Upper House.

However before voting, Government members ridiculed Labor members for bringing this matter before Parliament, claiming that such a tedious issue should be dealt with at Council or VCAT (didn’t they know it already had been rejected by Council, and the Minister stopped it from going before VCAT?) and that they had more important things to be debating. They also claimed that it was fully acceptable for residents living near proposed Wind Turbines to have power of veto if they lived within 2km of such a facility, but that residents living in Melbourne’s inner north had no such rights when it came to electricity terminals and high voltage transmission lines and that we were raising this as a frivolous issue to waste their time – and that Labor members were ‘scaremongering’. Of greatest concern is the number of times that Government members claimed the Regulatory Test Process had thoroughly investigated the issue and shown that there was a ‘net benefit’ from siting the new terminal at the BTS. The Reg Test shows no such thing – merely that it is the most cost effective option (which remains debatable) when you don’t take into consideration any environmental, health, safety or amenity issues.

This ‘debate’ shows just how much contempt the Minister and his colleagues have for local residents and Moreland Council – and only reaffirms our resolve to stop this bad decision being implemented.
Chris Black

Read the first debate here - http://bit.ly/xwnchT

Debate adjourned and then resumed here - http://bit.ly/zlzg96

The No BTS 66 Fact Sheet

NO BTS 66 Fact sheet. If you are wondering what stage the Brunswick Terminal Station is at here's the latest fact sheet.
Download a pdf here

Adam Bandt raises the BTS66 issue in Parliament Wednesday, 29 February 2012

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PROOF
Federation Chamber
CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Melbourne Electorate: Energy Infrastructure
SPEECH
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
BY AUTHORITY OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SPEECH
Date Wednesday, 29 February 2012 Source House
Page 107 Proof Yes
Questioner Responder
Speaker Bandt, Adam, MP Question No.
Mr BANDT (Melbourne) (09:57): Sustainable power supply should not come at the price of people's health or the cost of their amenity. With my Greens colleagues we have effectively facilitated a national focus on clean, renewable energy. I am now turning close attention to the impact of energy infrastructure on communities.

Residents in my electorate of Melbourne are facing the prospect of living alongside a 66-kilovolt terminal station, plans for which have been granted executive approval by the Baillieu government. I note that the member for Wills is in the chamber too and I am glad he is, because I know he has raised this issue as well. Already cohabiting with a 22-kilovolt facility, residents are rightly concerned about the intervention to approve the expansion and bypass the scrutiny of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Chris Black, Ramon Collodetti and other members of the Merri Creek Residents Group have been campaigning tirelessly for their community, and on their behalf I am now continuing to bring to the attention of the federal parliament the following concerns about the proposal.

Firstly, the requisite regulatory test provides insufficient scrutiny of the social impacts of the facility and does not require independent analysis of the health and safety risks. I have written to the Minister for Resources and Energy to bring his attention to this. Secondly, residents are rightly concerned about the current absence of Australian standards for exposure to electromagnetic fields. The draft standard has not yet been approved, leaving open the possibility of an unsafe environment for families. Furthermore, debates about the safety of the
proposed facility and the appropriate EMF levels have focused on international standards for critical exposure rather than chronic exposure. While the predicted EMF levels may fall beneath international standards for critical exposure, residents will be in streets registering EMF levels of four to eight to milligauss. Over time, levels above three milligauss correlate with a higher risk of childhood leukaemia. There are also concerns for children living under the high voltage line further down the line in the electorate of the member for Batman. One report on this site suggests that warning signs can be installed to deal with high magnetic field values on that footpath immediately above the underground cables—poor comfort for the residents who are using these footpaths daily.

I have written to the health minister to request immediate advice on the progress of the standards.

Thirdly, the intervention by the Victorian government has denied residents their right to participate in the planning process. I have written to the Premier expressing my concerns.

Fourthly, expansion of the terminal is based on outdated data regarding power consumption in Melbourne and is inconsistent with the reformation of the National Electricity Market to remove the bias towards centralised coal fired power generation and encourage demand management and the development of distributed generation and renewable energy. Ironically, the unique
Moreland Energy Foundation, with its forward-thinking plan to make Melbourne self-sufficient in energy supply through the introduction of cogeneration, takes in Brunswick and the site of this facility. I join with residents to call for an immediate independent review of this proposal.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms AE Burke ): Order! In accordance with standing order 193 the time for constituency statements has concluded.

Support from Moreland Council

Councillor John Kavanagh the Moreland Mayor has written to the Premier Ted Baillieu urging him to meet with the members of the Merri Creek Residents Group to discuss the BTS upgrade.
You can click on the image to read the letter or download a pdf here.

A suitable site for a Terminal station?

One of the other proposed sites for expanding and upgrading the network is in Brooklyn. We visited that site to compare how suitable it was for an upgrade compared to Brunswick.

Just because Brunswick is the cheapest (which it may not be) and was the victim of poor planning decisions back in the 1950s doesn't make it the best choice now.

Surely it makes sense to locate an industrial facility in an industrial area where it is not next to housing?

Download this information sheet here.

What happens in our tiny residential streets if this happens?

This is a video of a 220/66 transformer failure.

The power companies have not submitted any details of how they intend to
cope if this happens at Brunswick. The chances of it happening are quite low, yet it could.

There have been explosions there in the past!

View video here

Letter to the Mayor from the Merri Creek Residents Group

Dear Mayor

Thank you for making time to meet with representatives of the Merri Creek Residents Group this afternoon to discuss our outstanding concerns with the rezoning of the BTS site.
As per our discussions, we are continuing to pursue various avenues of challenging the decision that has been made, and the main ways in which Moreland Council can support us include:
- Through supporting our call for an Independent Review of the decision to rezone the land and allow the new 66kV facility to be built at the BTS site. Such an Independent Review would allow full consideration of all the facts in this matter, and not just the views and wishes of the power companies to be taken into account and rubber-stamped by Ministerial intervention. This support would include writing to the Premier, the Minister for Planning, the Minister for Energy & Resources and other relevant bodies requesting this action be taken
- Supporting the sourcing of legal advice from a senior Town Planner barrister/solicitor to determine any possible legal challenges to the Ministers decision. We are asking for a sum of $3000 from Moreland Council, and will also be approaching the City of Yarra and City of Darebin to help fund this action. This will not commit the City of Moreland to undertaking any further legal action, rather put us all in the position of understanding the potential of a legal challenge against the decision to rezone. Of course we would share this legal advice with Council and others supporting our actions.
- Support us in any appeal to VCAT around the Minister’s decision, based on the significant loss of amenity and wellbeing that a development of this nature in a residential area will cause (including the health and wellbeing of those residents in the neighbouring municipality of Darebin who live directly under the HV transmission lines).
- That Council make available the full set of Officers Reports and file notes relating to this application development that was twice rejected by Council’s Urban Planning Committee. In particular it would be helpful to get information about the full extent of correspondence between the proponents of the development and Council in the leadup to the June 2010 and November 2011 meetings, to help understand the level of consultation (or lack of) that occurred in the proponents seeking a planning permit.

We appreciate that Council has made various statements to condemn the Government’s lack of consultation with the community and with Council over the rezoning of this land. We trust that you will be able to continue supporting our fight to overturn or at least review this decision, and return some level of confidence to residents in the City of Moreland that the democratic Planning Laws in this State are there to ensure that all parties are heard and given the right to have their say, particularly in such large scale and potentially dangerous development decisions.

Kind regards
Chris Black and Ramon Colodetti
On behalf of the Merri Creek Residents Group

NEW ‘MINISTER FOR REZONING’ IN BAILLIEU GOVERNMENT

MEDIA RELEASE
20 February 2012
NEW ‘MINISTER FOR REZONING’ IN BAILLIEU GOVERNMENT

Following his outrageous and clearly suspect decision to rezone land at Philip Island to allow a Liberal ‘mate’ to make vast profits out a new housing development, Minister Matthew Guy is at it again in inner-city East Brunswick.
Last week with no warning he rezoned a large parcel of land along the Merri Creek from ‘Residential 1’ to ‘Special Use’ to allow power companies to proceed with a fourfold expansion of the existing Brunswick Terminal Station. This is despite the fact that local government, Moreland Council, has twice rejected this proposal on the grounds that it is an unsuitable development for such a highly residential and environmentally sensitive area.
It appears that we now have a new portfolio in the Baillieu Government – Minister for Rezoning.
When they don’t like a decision made at the local government level, they simply send in the Minister for Rezoning to make a decision that overrides the state’s democratic planning processes – and cut out any opposing voices. Those concerned at the Minister’s plans for greater development of the Melbourne skyline should be alarmed.
Minister Guy’s decision, based purely on the economic arguments put forward by power companies for development at this site in preference to moving the terminal station to a more appropriate industrial location, mean that social, community health and environmental considerations are being completely dismissed. It also means that a VCAT hearing due for March is now null and void.
“Both the Planning Minister and the power companies have deceived Council and residents by effectively removing this decision from VCAT’s hands, after having told us that they would follow by the ‘proper planning processes’ for this site”, said Merri Creek Residents Group spokesperson, Ramon Colodetti.
“People living in the vicinity of the Brunswick Terminal Station, and those who live under the high voltage power lines leading into the site, have serious concerns about the safety of the proposed new facility” said Mr Colodetti. “But now that the Planning Minister has intervened and effectively rezoned the site from Residential to an Industrial site, none of our concerns will be heard.”
For further information about the residents campaign to move the power station, contact Ray Colodetti on 0416 235 391 or go to http://powergridsolutions.blogspot.com/

PLANNING MINISTER OVERRIDES PLANNING PROCESS – AGAIN BRUNSWICK TERMINAL STATION REZONED OVERNIGHT

MEDIA RELEASE
16 February 2012
PLANNING MINISTER OVERRIDES PLANNING PROCESS – AGAIN
BRUNSWICK TERMINAL STATION REZONED OVERNIGHT

Planning Minister Matthew Guy has once again ignored the concerns of residents and sided with business interests to approve the controversial expansion of the Brunswick Terminal Station in East Brunswick. Overnight he has rezoned a residential site in inner-city Melbourne to a ‘Special Purpose’ site to effectively override State Planning laws.
CitiPower and SPAusnet had their application for the expansion rejected by Moreland Council in November last year, and had signalled their intention to appeal through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). Minister Guy also assured residents that they would be able to use the “proper planning processes” to have their voices heard and concerns about the four-fold expansion of the plant aired.
“Both the Planning Minister and the power companies have deceived residents by effectively removing this decision from VCAT’s hands, after having told residents that they would follow by the planning rules”, said Merri Creek Residents Group spokesperson, Ramon Colodetti.
“People living in the vicinity of the Brunswick Terminal Station, and those who live under the high voltage power lines leading into the site, have serious concerns about the safety of the proposed new facility” said Mr Colodetti. “But now that the Planning Minister has intervened and effectively rezoned the site from Residential to an Industrial site, none of our concerns will be heard.”
“CitiPower claims to have the interests of its customers at heart, but this sneaky move to override the democratic planning process shows that all they are interested in is the commercial gains from building the cheapest possible facility – even if it does happen to be smack bang in the middle of a residential area and next to the environmentally significant Merri Creek” said Mr. Colodetti.
For further information about the residents campaign to move the power station, contact Ray Colodetti on 0416 235 391 or go to http://powergridsolutions.blogspot.com/