By Christine de Kock
ACTION groups upset by the activities of the Port of Melbourne Corporation (PoMC) in the western suburbs have until now fought their battles on a number of individual fronts.
But there is a call from Blue Wedge member Patsy Crotty for community groups to put up an united front.
“There would be a lot gained if understanding, experience and resources were shared by all those involved,” she said.
Ms Crotty visited last Tuesday’s council meeting as a “concerned individual” not as a representative of Blue Wedge, a group that was formed in opposition to the channel deepening project in Williamstown.
Ms Crotty attended the meeting as she wanted to keep abreast of Maribyrnong City Council’s discussions with the PoMC regarding Footscray Wharf.
Ms Crotty said other activists were concerned about the relocation of the wholesale markets from Footscray to Epping, residents’ opposition to port-related truck traffic and the port’s purchase of the contaminated Pivot site, which they did not restore.
“It is evident that a groundswell of public opinion is rising in all these areas and that when people realise that the concern of their particular group is actually part of a whole, then perhaps we will see these seemingly disparate groups joining forces to tackle the ‘City Halls’ of Melbourne,” she said.
“That is a prospect that would not be palatable to those who, in the name of the ‘economy’, the ‘good of Melbourne’ or the ‘saving of jobs’ are trying very hard to push these things through.
“Their opponents would not use those descriptors to explain the purpose of these actions.
“They would be more likely to use the terms ‘short term gain’, ‘glory for the few at the expense of the majority’ and ‘lack of a broad, perhaps even national, vision’.”
Ms Crotty said the Blue Wedges would push for the prevention of the channel deepening project and the exploration of “other more suitable alternatives” to the plans that are being presently proposed by the State Government and the PoMC.
