By Engelbert Schmidl
CHANNEL deepening opponents have labelled a Port of Melbourne Corporation procurement plan arrogant.
The plan announced last week by the PoMC was for procurement and investment covering public tenders, expenditure and ground work as part of the proposed channel deepening project in Port Phillip.
The PoMC CEO, Stephen Bradford, said procurements were required for timely commencement and delivery of the project should it receive the relevant environmental approvals.
“This is part of an extensive and prudent preparation process for the project subject to approvals being granted and should not be seen as pre-empting a decision on the project,” he said.
But opponents such as the environmental group Blue Wedges viewed the move as provocative, considering the channel deepening issue was still the subject of a sitting panel inquiry.
“The PoMC is arrogant in the extreme. We have sat listening patiently to the port corporation’s evidence, over two weeks, without even being able to ask questions. The inquiry runs until 31 July but the port corporation cannot pay the inquiry the courtesy of listening to any other submissions or expert evidence,” said Jenny Warfe, spokeswoman for the group.
She said the announcement was the worst example of a bad developer.
“Would you stand by and let a developer start to prepare the work site, work-sheds, concrete and steel for a huge building on the block next to your home before the council had even considered it? We don’t think so. That’s just what the port corporation has done. Being a bully is being a bad neighbour,” she said.
Greens MLC and spokesperson on channel deepening, Sue Pennicuik, said the PoMC was being “pre-emptive, provocative and totally inappropriate”.
“Unfortunately, the PoMC has shown yet again that it intends to proceed with its pet project and sees the inquiry as an inconvenient distraction.
“The PoMC needs to remember that Port Phillip is more than just a highway for ships.
“It is an unique ecological system and a crucial asset for Melbourne and Victoria that belongs to the Victorian people,” Ms Pennicuik said.
A spokesman for the Planning Minister, Justin Madden, said the PoMC procurement plan was a commercial matter and no deal had been reached with the PoMC over channel deepening.
“The Government is still committed to an independent inquiry into the environmental effects of channel deepening. An independent panel is currently hearing evidence and will report to the Planning Minister in October.
“The decision by the port is a commercial matter for them, and they have assured the Government they will bear all the costs of the tender if the channel deepening proposal is not approved,” he said.
It will not effect the conduct of the inquiry,” said the spokesman.
“The Planning Minister will then make an assessment, which will be provided to the State and Federal environment ministers for a final decision on the project,” he said.
