Elsie Lange
Planning Minister Richard Wynne has declined to intervene in a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) process to bring forward the development of a multi-deck carpark in Sunbury, following a request from Hume council to do so.
The proposed Evans Street car park, set to provide more than 600 car spaces in the town centre, has been delayed until August following two appeals to VCAT against the plan.
Hume council correspondence with government ministers was tabled at a meeting on Monday, May 23, including a letter from Mr Wynne which said he would not “call in” the VCAT process.
“Given the complex property matters raised in submissions, my department suggested that a mediated outcome was the best option to resolve historical planning, building and subdivision anomalies,” Mr Wynne said.
“I understand from the Department of Transport that discussions with both parties are progressing well.”
Councillor Jack Medcraft said he was disappointed by the decision as he had been “accosted in the street” by community members pleading for the development.
“[It’s] causing untold misery to people sitting around waiting car parking spaces.”
Councillor Trevor Dance reiterated his previous position that asking the minister to call in the process would interfere with residents’ rights to make an application to the tribunal if they sought to, and said he was “pleased” Mr Wynne had declined.
“In my particular view… is that [it] has been on the agenda for a long, long, long time, and a couple more months isn’t too much to wait for,” Cr Dance said.
“And really you can’t do much at the moment with the current construction that’s going on there at the moment with the railway crossing.”
“A good outcome really, in my view, for the rights for all people to have their day in VCAT, and I look forward to that hearing,” he added.
