In a Twitter over planning

The planning debate continued to simmer and leapt into the 21st century last month, when a war of words broke out on Twitter between Southbank Residents Group (SRG) and Planning Minister, Matthew Guy.

The stoush began innocently enough, when Southbank Local News posted the SRG’s latest column on the social media website, prompting the Minister to accuse the SRG of factual errors.

“A whole lot of factual inaccuracies. Fine to criticise, but at least be factual,” Mr Guy tweeted.

The residents were quick to respond saying: “SRG welcomes Matthew Guy to point out inaccuracy. Residents can’t understand decisions not inline with MPS (Melbourne Planning Scheme) and not being heard by state.”

Melbourne City Councillor Rohan Leppert also questioned the Minister by tweeting: “I can’t spot any factual errors? Which are they?”

The planning concerns in Southbank were also highlighted via the more traditional medium of television, during a special report on ABC’s 7.30 Report, investigating the approval of Australia 108 last month.

There were also fiery scenes at the Planning Melbourne Forum, run by the SRG, Docklands Community Association and East Enders, as our report on page seven explains.

Final public submissions to the planning document Melbourne, Let’s Talk About the Future closed during March.