By Charlene Gatt
AN ARTICLE in the Star on 2 March, concerning Maribyrnong Council should be an interest to ratepayers. It was about council’s decision that planning meetings are now (and always were) off limits to representatives of the press.
The exclusion of the press from planning meetings lessens the chances of the public being able to learn about future developments, which are likely to affect them.
This apparent lack of transparency drives yet another wedge of distrust between the council and ratepayers, who strongly feel that council is not only rating them higher than they should, but at the same time is sacrificing our local amenity and living conditions to hungry developers, who are often perceived to be exploiting State and Federal Government initiatives to concrete Maribyrnong over as deeply as possible to accommodate an ever-increasing population.
Alan Ross on behalf of the Maribyrnong Residents Association
