Wednesday, 19 June 2024

 Richard WELCH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:21): (977) The action I seek is for the Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL). Last sitting week I was frankly taken aback to see the parliamentary statement by the member for Box Hill openly criticising the lack of open space in his electorate, an issue that I have raised in this chamber several times. Why was I surprised that he had raised this and admitted it was so clearly a problem? Well, after years of supporting overdevelopment, loss of open space to the North East Link and in Box Hill Gardens, cheering on the loss of 2500 mature trees as some kind of sign of progress, donning yellow hi-vis jackets for photo ops in front of diggers and supporting 40-storey towers, this new-found concern that this might be destroying the community’s quality of life is hard to swallow – and I do not swallow it. It is his government’s population growth policy that demands Whitehorse council build 79,000 new residences, effectively doubling the residences within the same footprint. It is his government’s Suburban Rail Loop project that will reduce open space per person in Box Hill by 83 per cent. So the question arises: is he in support of open space or is he against it? Because his statements and his government’s actions are in direct contradiction to each other.

The member for Box Hill has made his position clear to the community. He has shifted the blame onto the council from which his government has stripped planning powers – the council upon which his government has imposed building targets that can only destroy the community’s quality of life. Community members have informed me that when they have raised concerns with Mr Hamer he has responded that he has no impact on SRL decisions and has referred them to the Suburban Rail Loop Authority. Yet the next minute the member for Box Hill is asserting that the community need high-quality open space for exercise, for the community to connect and for the kids to play in. Well, that is just lip-service, and the community know it. The range of community organisations now actively raising petitions and asking questions that he and the SRLA do not want to answer confirms it. We now hear the SRLA are planning to put a road through the Box Hill brickworks and develop it for housing – no genuine consultation, misleading diagrams and a lack of information to surrounding streets about what is about to descend on them.

I believe the member for Box Hill and his Labor government should represent their community’s interests and stop shifting the blame. If you want to fight for open space, Mr Hamer, then fight for it. I demand that the minister actively engage with the Box Hill residents and directly address their concerns, guarantee no property development in the Box Hill brickworks and take full responsibility for the reduction of open space in our community.