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.