By Kyra Gillespie
Developer giant Parklea has lashed out at Cardinia Shire Council, claiming that their ‘poor’ planning of a development on Pakenham’s eastern fringe will turn the region into a “congested mess.”
Director Don Welsh said council thwarted Parklea’s early plan to include interchanges on and off the Princes Freeway.
“The interchange that we proposed wasn’t just an interchange, but a park and ride railway too,” Mr Welsh said.
“We submitted the plans back in 2013, which received support from the then Planning Minister Matthew Guy, as well as the Minister for Public Transport. But in 2013 council killed the proposal – now they have to be accountable to the community for the congested mess that will result from this development.
“We saw the station as a remedy not only for the potential Pakenham East development, but to the whole Pakenham community who are already struggling with congestion today. The plans as they stand will not accommodate for future growth; it’s only going to get worse.”
The proposed rail station would have accommodated around 1000 cars and given freeway access to the 20,000 to 22,000 people predicted to move into the Pakenham East estate.
Mr Welsh said funding for the project could have been sought from the State Government’s $80 million GAIC (Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution).
“We wanted that money to benefit the community directly. Instead the community gets no interchange, no new rail station, and that $80 million will go into consolidated revenue in treasury.”
Mr Welsh said there were a number of disagreements between the council and Parklea during the planning process.
“For example, we didn’t think a high school should be built on top of a hill; our position was that it would be a better outcome for the future community if it was built in a different place. Yet that’s where it is in the plan.
“At the end of the day we had our say, and in years to come when the community asks us why the town is developed the way it is we will have the comfort of being able to say that we put it in front of a panel.
“The developer gets left with the consequences of the decisions made by the VPA and the council – they are the two entities that are entirely responsible for how the plans turned out.”
The company director said that efforts to work closely with the council throughout the planning process were in vain.
“We tried to take an interactive approach, we tried to put alternatives forward, we tried to work with the council; but at no point did we feel that they were open or transparent with us.
“We are the biggest developer of Pakenham East, yet we had to obtain information about what council was doing through the Freedom of Information Act.
“There were some reports that they didn’t release to the panel until almost years after they wrote them. After seven years we were no better if we’d just stayed out of the entire process – it had no impact whatsoever.”
The Victorian Planning Authority (VPA) said transport modelling revealed a train station would not be financially viable but that high-frequency bus services will be provided along the Princes Highway linking Pakenham East to Pakenham Railway Station.
The Panel report on Pakenham East has been considered by the Victorian Planning Authority Board and will now go to the Planning Department for assessment.
It will not be considered by the Planning Minister until later this year.
