By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
TWO Greater Dandenong councillors have brushed aside calls from a Bangholme resident to resign over the proposed rezoning of 337 hectares of green wedge land.
The state government’s Urban Growth Boundary Anomalies Advisory Committee’s report, released last week, rejected the council’s submission that the area bounded by EastLink, Harwood Road, Frankston-Dandenong Road and Eumemmerring Creek was a green wedge anomaly.
Bangholme resident Alan Hood and 10 other opposing submitters — including Frankston Council, the Department of Planning and Community Development and Melbourne Water — argued against the council’s submission.
Mr Hood last week accused councillors Peter Brown and John Kelly — who moved and seconded for the land to be included in the council’s submission in November 2011 — of misleading the council by saying Melbourne Water supported the inclusion.
Mr Hood said the two councillors had not had grounds to state Melbourne Water “didn’t have a problem” or “had come on board” the rezoning.
In December 2011, Melbourne Water told the Journal it had not been formally consulted.
At last year’s advisory committee hearing, the water authority strongly opposed the rezoning because it was a “major change in policy” rather than an anomaly.
Mr Hood said the serious implication was that rezoning would have led to increased downstream run-off.
“If this amendment had gone ahead the potential cost to ratepayers of negligence claims from hundreds of factories and residents in Bangholme, Frankston and Kingston could be hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said.
“Since the council decision was part-based on this misleading information, councillors Peter Brown and John Kelly should resign.”
Cr Brown and Cr Kelly last week independently said they believed Melbourne Water had supported the inclusion at the time. Cr Brown however, said he relied on information from “another party, not Melbourne Water”.
“I’d rather not say who provided me that advice. Possibly since then, Melbourne Water officers changed their view and amended their position.”
He challenged Mr Hood to stand for council, rather than standing “outside the tent”.
“Mr Hood is welcome to ask me to resign and I’m welcome to say I’m not.”
Cr Brown said he had “a number of discussions” with developer Intrapac, whose companies Fendenbrook and Handenbrook owned two lots in the affected land.
The company had argued that the region, if rezoned, would supply land to “one of Melbourne’s most important industrial precincts”.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Should the land have been rezoned? Should councillors Brown and Kelly resign? Post a comment below or via Twitter, @DandyJournal.
For all the latest breaking news, stay with this website. Also, follow the Weekly at facebook.com/dandenongjournal or on Twitter @DandyJournal.
