Green wedge ‘flawed’

By Jim Mynard
THE Shadow Minister for Planning Ted Baillieu told members of the Enterprise Club that Melbourne’s 2030 plan was flawed and unpopular.
Mr Baillieu, who was guest speaker at the club’s February breakfast, said the plan was becoming unworkable.
He said the Hamer Government in the 1970s planned for growth in corridors and bought land such as Brimbank and Gels Park to preserve open spaces.
“Overnight, the Bracks Government put a fence around Melbourne and said hands off for development outside that urban growth boundary (UGB).”
Mr Baillieu said that in doing this the Government relabelled a lot of land as green wedge, but made no investment in those areas.
He said people who owned the land had to maintain their holdings and the burden was falling on property owners.
He said the policy treated all green wedge land the same, but much of it was not pristine mountain ash country.
Mr Baillieu said everyone wanted the green wedge sections, but it was the government’s responsibility to invest in the land, not landowners.
“It is mostly private land now in green wedge and this is causing grief for the owners,” he said.
Mr Baillieu said the Government announced the UGB and said it was fixed forever, then began introducing changes.
“They said the boundary could not be moved, but they did move it and the Opposition was given only 24 hours notice that this was about to happen,” he said.
“The fundamental proposition went out the window.”