Plan Melbourne, the Napthine government’s much-vaunted vision for a well-connected, well-designed modern metropolis, has hit a wall of negativity.
Promising salvation from over- development in “our leafy suburbs” and “pipelines” of development along freeway corridors, Planning Minister Matthew Guy and Premier Denis Napthine launched their final version of the plan in October. Public comment was invited.
Adverse reaction reached a crescendo last week when Professor Roz Hansen, chairwoman of the Planning Minister’s hand-picked panel that guided Plan Melbourne’s consultation, spelled out publicly why the six-member panel and the minister had fallen out.
Speaking at a Melbourne City council meeting, Professor Hansen said the clincher was the Napthine government’s controversial east-west tunnel and its road-based approach to a public transport mess that was costing commuters financially and undermining their quality of life. She accused the government of pushing outdated “1960s and ’70s solutions” and lacking in “smart, innovative or progressive thinking”.
Local government – particularly councils dealing with population-burgeoning suburbs and daily traffic gridlock – is wary of the minister’s “pipeline” of progress, with public transport and social infrastructure already lacking.
With public feedback on the “final” Plan Melbourne due earlier this month, Hume and Whittlesea councils tabled their responses at meetings last week. Hume’s response urges the government to address “the backlog of desperately needed public transport improvements” to Melbourne’s booming northern suburbs.
Whittlesea’s submission echoes its neighbour.
“While the plan acknowledges the importance of infrastructure investment, it does not provide any certainty on how such investment will be delivered,” Whittlesea mayor Mary Lalios said.
Both councils rejected Plan Melbourne’s road infrastructure focus on spending between $6 billion and $8 billion to build the east-west tunnel and road link at the expense of the Melbourne Metro rail network expansion.
