Wednesday, 1 April 2026

 Richard WELCH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (09:49): I also was out in Blackburn on the weekend with the excellent Liberal candidate for Box Hill, Sally Houguet. We doorknocked the length of Laburnum Street, which is one of the areas within the Blackburn activity centre that is feeling particularly aggrieved at the plans to put six- to eight-storey minimum apartments the length of that street. That is a traditional tree-lined street. The consultation has been inadequate at best – perhaps worse than that. What we have found is the community is deeply upset, deeply agitated and deeply anxious about the future quality of life in their area because of this activity centre. The consultation period has closed, but we await anxiously the feedback on whether any of their points will be acknowledged.