Forum produces fireworks

The first Montague Community Forum of 2018 last month produced a fiery display as politicians from the three major parties shared their visions for the future of the Montague Precinct.

Some 40 locals gathered at the Golden Fleece Hotel on Tuesday, March 20 to meet with Member for Albert Park Martin Foley, Liberal shadow minister for planning David Davis and leader of the Victorian Greens Samantha Ratnam.

Led by the Montague Community Alliance (MCA) and sponsored by Southbank Local News, the forum began with respectful and positive addresses by all three panelists.

Martin Foley flagged a new secondary school in Fishermans Bend as the next “big and immediate thing”, following the recent completion of the new primary school in Ferrars St, Southbank.

He used the forum as the first public platform to invite the community to start working towards a secondary school, one of six recommended in the State Government’s recast vision for Fishermans Bend.

Samantha Ratnam spoke confidently of her party’s intentions to “honour the work done” by the community and the current government and “accelerate it.” The Greens are still yet to announce a candidate for Albert Park.

As development in Fishermans Bend continues, Ms Ratnam pleased many in the audience when she also stated her desire to restore third party appeal rights and reinstating councils as the sole planning authorities.

While providing a positive opening address about the Liberal Party’s vision for Fishermans Bend, David Davis quickly became the subject of controversy as the forum transitioned to question and answer.

Mr Davis has inherited a position in his party formerly occupied by opposition leader Matthew Guy. During his time as planning minister, Mr Guy controversially rezoned Fishermans Bend as capital city zone, causing land prices to skyrocket and presenting planners with many challenges.

Since being elected in 2014, the Labor government has largely put the brakes on development in Fishermans Bend, engaging the community and experts to rethink the approach to planning for urban renewal project. While the government has released its recast Fishermans Bend framework and put a freeze on all live development applications, the project has lost a lot of momentum.

These were facts not lost on the community, as locals lined up to ask Mr Davis whether his government would honour the work done by the community should his party win the election in November.

Because of his reluctance to questions, Mr Davis was met with a fiery response from the crowd as he steered the discussion onto Labor’s approval of Crown’s mega-tower at Southbank.

“Labor approved the tallest tower in Australia with no consultation,” he said. “You’d be naive to think that this current government will do what you want.”

Mr Davis continued to cop heat from the audience including former City of Port Phillip councillor Anita Horvath, who he referred to at one point as “one-eyed”.

While he gave no clear indication as to his intentions for Montague and Fishermans Bend, he said he would be making some “sharp statements” ahead of the election.

In an effort to calm the meeting, MCA convener and forum moderator Trisha Avery called for respectful debate but told Mr Davis that locals “had been burned” by his government and had the right to express their anger.

A former Moreland City councillor, Ms Ratnam spoke of her desire to empower local council with more planning power and see mandatory rather than discretionary controls for the whole precinct.

Martin Foley expressed the possibility of a future “one stop shop” for governance arrangements that would give councils and the community alike a seat at the table.

The next Montague Community Forum is expected to be held mid-year. Look out for the details in the Southbank Local News.