Slash red tape

By Kath Gannaway
MARYSVILLE and Triangle Development Group (MATDG) members are calling for a total overhaul of the model put in place to rebuild the devastated town.
In a no-holds-barred assault on the role of the State Government, the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority (VBRRA) and the Shire of Murrindindi Council, they have hit out at what they describe as a model bogged down in bureaucracy.
MATDG president Graeme Brown and members Doug Walter, Jim Roennfeldt and Nick Jans want dramatic changes including the scrapping of VBRRA and an administrator to be appointed to take over Murrindindi Council.
“People are leaving in droves and businesses are in limbo because of the tardy response of what is an overly bureaucratic model which should never have been put in place in this type of situation,” Mr Walter told the Mail.
He said the fact that the former car museum, bought in July as a business precinct, was still empty was a frustrating example of the lack of progress.
“All you had to do is get all the previous businesses together and say how can we design this,” Mr Roennfeldt added. “We had a process in place where we could have had it up and working in two weeks and now it’s two months on and the businesses don’t know where they’re at.”
Mr Jans said the model was flawed from the start.
“This needed to be treated like a war from the outset, with a military approach to the rebuilding, and that just wasn’t done,” he said.
Responsibility for recovery shifted in May to a Section 86 Committee under the Local Government Act with a VBRRA chair, three State Government representatives and three local councillors making up that committee. Another committee, the CRC (Community Recovery Committee) reports to the Sec.86 Committee, which advises VBRRA.
The group claims the three Sec.86 shire councillors – Bellingham, Beales and Walsh – are not representing the community effectively and should be replaced by local MPs who, they say, are more in tune to the community.
“We need an apolitical committee to advise the community on effective means of achieving substantial progress without further loss of time,” Mr Walter said.
However a spokeswoman for VBRRA said their stand was disappointing.
“Since residents returned to Marysville six weeks after Black Saturday, a significant amount of work has been undertaken that has set the ground work for the rebuilding and recovery of the area,” she said. “People need to remember that an entire town which took over 100 years to develop, will take some time to rebuild and that many people have a role to play in this process – people who invest, start businesses, build homes, as well as individuals, governments and donors,” she said.
“While the authority is willing to work with all groups and individuals to progress the rebuilding and recovery of Marysville, it is disappointing that recent comments made by some members of MATDG indicate they are not standing by their commitment to work cohesively with the authority, government, council and others to ensure this rebuilding occurs.”