By JESSE GRAHAM
IT was an evening of high emotions and raised voices at the Yarra Ranges Community Cabinet last week.
Premier Denis Napthine and his ministers assembled at Upwey’s Burrinja Cultural Centre at 5.30pm on Monday 14 April for the meeting, which saw the centre’s room quickly reach capacity.
Representatives of numerous local groups and Yarra Ranges councillors were all in attendance, and members of the community were able to pose questions or make statements to the ministers.
The first question came from Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum member Steve Meacher, who immediately criticised the government’s release of the Leadbeater’s Possum Advisory Group (LPAG) report and recommendations.
Numerous other questions and statements followed in a similar vein, with many residents yelling their sentiments on the matter to the amassed ministers as they made their responses.
Minister for Climate Change and Environment Ryan Smith and Minister for Agriculture and Food Security Peter Walsh both said the report and the government’s response was a “big step forward” in protecting the endangered animal.
However, questions persisted throughout the evening, attacking the government on its stance towards the timber industry, with raised voices often interrupting both questions and answers.
Former Yarra Ranges Mayor Tim Heenan also took the microphone at the event, and asked about the progress of Warburton’s Natural Gas project, which he said was promised before the last state election.
Dr Napthine responded to Mr Heenan and said the government was re-tendering the process of getting gas to the town, due to a lack of interest in its initial tendering of the project.
Healesville resident Robyn Johnson also put her thoughts to the ministers, asking about the potential of realigning regional boundaries, which currently place the Yarra Ranges in the Melbourne Metropolitan area.
Dr Napthine said the government had been in discussion with the Yarra Ranges Council to assess how to re-classify the area, so that initiatives such as the Regional Growth Fund would be available to residents.
The issue of Tecoma McDonald’s and TAFE funding in the area were both dominant issues at the Community Cabinet meeting, and many questioners took aim at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) over the McDonald’s decision.
However, Planning Minister Matthew Guy and Attorney-General Robert Clark both defended the VCAT decision, and said that the body was merely working within the confines of the law.
Questioners asked the government about the possibility of removing VCAT from the equation, and having planning decisions rest solely with the council, but Mr Guy said this could cut both ways.
“If you removed the appeal mechanism, you could find it comes back to backfire, if the council makes a decision that is completely inappropriate,” he said.
The Attorney General suggested that, to prevent situations like Tecoma McDonald’s, planning schemes had to be altered, as they were this week with the introduction of C126.
C126 is an amendment to the Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme that discourages drive-through facilities in some areas of the Dandenongs.
However, many members of the audience did not accept Mr Clark’s answer, and yelled over the top of him, accusing him of hiding behind the former government and saying the change was too late.
Meanwhile, TAFE questions were deflected by Ferntree Gully MP Nick Wakeling, who said that funding had increased under the Coalition and that more students were studying in fields guaranteed to get jobs.
The final question of the evening came from Yarra Ranges Councillor Noel Cliff, who asked for an update on the Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO), which he said left people “stuffed”.
Dr Napthine and Mr Guy both responded, and said that commonsense should be applied to the BMO, and that some resolution to the current situation was expected to be seen in May.
The meeting ended half an hour over-time, at 7.30pm, and the ministers were ushered out of the building by police officers, with community members staying behind to talk about the evening and their respective community groups.
