Posted 20/9/07

Upper House Parliamentary Inquiry Into Public Land :

Inquiry To Visit Melbourne 2030's Frontline

PLANNING BACKLASH says: 

If you are able, and have public open space in your area that is or might be under threat, try to come to Kew on the 26th September to the public hearing. 

Community groups and members of the public are encouraged to attend the first Public Hearing to be held by the Upper House Select Committee into Public Land Sales when it gets underway at the controversial $400 million Kew Cottages Development next week.
 

The Upper House Select Committee, chaired by Shadow Minister for Major Projects, David Davis, has 7 Members

(2 LIB, 2 ALP, 1 NAT, 1 Green, 1 DLP) and has been appointed to inquire into -
 

Groups expected to give evidence at next week's Public Hearing include Kew Cottages Coalition, Boroondara Council, and Walker Corporation.  More..
 

The State Government's Melbourne 2030 and Green Wedge policies are expected to be key issues in the inquiry.
 

Brian Walsh, President, Kew Cottages Coalition, said that when the Bracks Government came to power in 1999, the Government appeared to have conveniently ignored the fact that Kew Cottages had been a key part of Melbourne's 'Green Wedges' Strategic Planning Framework throughout the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's.

Mr. Walsh said, "Bracks' 2001 announcement that he planned to build a new housing estate at Kew Cottages made no mention at all of the existence of the 'Green Wedge' at Kew and the high ecological and landscape value issues involved."

He said, "The Bracks Government then went on to exclude public scrutiny of its rezoning plans in 2003, and surprise, surprise, relied on its new Melbourne 2030 blueprint to support the Government's argument for rezoning Kew Cottages."

However, the public "Planning Backlash" that subsequently followed at Kew played a large part in convincing the non-government parties in the Parliament (the Liberals, Nationals, Greens and DLP) to use their combined power in the Upper House to establish Select Committee to scrutinise the Government's actions.

Mr. Walsh said, "If the Select Committee finds major faults with Melbourne 2030 then the Government will be forced to respond.  The Select Committee has wide powers, like Senate Committees in Canberra, and the ability to do much more than produce elegant reports designed to sit on shelves weighed down with the dust of bureaucracy."
 

"Therefore, I believe it is important that the Committee gets as wide, and up to date, spectrum of evidence as possible about the considerable problems posed by the Melbourne 2030 blueprint - and not just examples of those problems that have come to light so far in the specific case of public lands such as Kew Cottages.

So I encourage all Planning Backlash members, community groups and members of the public to write to the Select Committee before their closing date (28th September, 2007) and give the Committee as much information as they can about their own local experience with Melbourne 2030 on private land as well as public land."


Select Committee Inquiry into Public Lands : Kew Cottages Public Hearing Details
 

Brian Walsh,
President,
Kew Cottages Coalition
T: 0414 979 300
Website Updates: www.kew.org.au/whatsnew