By KATH GANNAWAY
POLICE are expected to speak when Yarra Ranges Council meets tonight (Tuesday 11 March) to decide the Narconon planning application.
The application to relocate the drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility from East Warburton to Warburton township was deferred by the council in December to allow further exploration around safety and amenity issues raised by objectors.
The council received 297 objections to the proposal.
The critical factor in deferring the matter came down to Warburton Police Sergeant Tom Wilkinson’s submission which stated there was insufficient information provided to make a full assessment of the risks and risk management associated with the centre, and was therefore not supported by police.
Objectors, labelled by several councillors at the heated December meeting as having a ‘not in my backyard’ mentality, have since obtained information through a Freedom of Information request which is expected to shed more light on police concerns.
Those concerns were not spelt out at that meeting with police citing ‘privacy issues’ and police have not provided any further comment for this meeting.
Also included will be additional information submitted by the applicant including a risk management plan and details of an induction procedure and code of conduct along with assurances around the ratio of trained staff and ongoing processes for addressing risk.
The recommendation to councillors is to refuse the application on a number of grounds including community safety, inappropriate use of the location, amenity issues and that it does not comply with the Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme.
