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/