By Colin MacGillivray
OPPONENTS of a quarry proposed south of Wallan have again voiced their frustrations at the opacity of the planning process after a government spokesperson was unable to confirm who would make the final call on the project.
The quarry has been the subject of a years-long debate, with operator Conundrum Holdings arguing it would create jobs while delivering a source of basalt close to construction areas, while detractors including Mitchell Shire Council are worried about the economic and environmental effects of placing a quarry in a growth area.
Former Planning Minister Richard Wynne assumed authority for a final decision on whether the quarry would proceed after Conundrum launched a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, VCAT, challenge to council’s decision to deny a planning permit.
Mr Wynne later announced he would not recontest his seat at November’s state election and was replaced in the planning portfolio by Lizzie Blandthorn.
Quarry opponents assumed Ms Blandthorn would have the final say on the project, but earlier this month Member for Yan Yean Danielle Green suggested Ms Blandthorn could have a conflict of interest.
Ms Green met with representatives of council and the No Quarry for Beveridge/Wallan community group on August 10, listening to the concerns of attendees and attempting to answer their questions.
Ms Green said she believed Ms Blandthorn could have a conflict of interest on the quarry decision because of her brother’s role as a director of lobbying firm Hawker Britton.
Ms Blandthorn has recused herself from making decisions on cases in which Hawker Britton is involved, and Ms Green said she believed that included the quarry.
“[My understanding is that] Conundrum has been working with Hawker Britton and [Ms Blandthorn] won’t be making a decision – it will be another minister,” Ms Green said.
“My reading of it is that there is a public process that she will not be involved in making decisions around anything that Hawker Britton is involved in. It will be deferred to another minister, and my expectation would be that [Lily D’Ambrosio] would be the minister.”
But a spokesperson for Ms Blandthorn’s office said there had been no official ruling on whether the minister had a conflict of interest in the case of the quarry.
“The decision hasn’t come up to us yet,” she said.
“As decisions arise, they are then assessed and then a decision is made on whether there is a conflict [of interest]. If there is a conflict it goes to the alternate [minister].
“In this case there is no reason for us to believe there would be a need for the alternate minister. They have looked into it a little bit and they don’t believe that, but it will be assessed more thoroughly when the decision comes through.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, DELWP, said a decision on the quarry was not imminent, despite earlier suggestions from the government thst the final recommendation of a ministerial advisory committee would be presented to the relevant minister before the end of August.
“At this stage, the timing for a decision on the quarry has not been confirmed. Once a decision is due, the department will refer the decision to the appropriate minister,” the DELWP spokesperson said.
No Quarry for Beveridge/Wallan spokesperson James Cisco said group members were frustrated at being ‘kept in the dark’.
“The answer we’ve had the whole time is ‘you have to let the process play out’, but what we’re saying is that the process has been fundamentally unfair towards the community. We’ve been cut out – purposefully and tactically – at each chance for consultation,” he said.
“Any time we can get cut, we do get cut, and now we’ve had a thousand cuts and we’re at the end of the process wondering, ‘what happened? Where was our voice?’”
Conundrum Holdings declined to comment when approached by the Review.
The landowner of the location where the quarry is proposed is Wally Mott. He is also an owner of the Review.
