Cade Lucas
A plan that lays out what Wyndham will look like by 2040 passed at a council meeting on Tuesday night, despite opposition from two councillors and heckling from the public gallery.
Wyndham mayor Susan McIntyre repeatedly called for quiet and threatened to remove members of the public gallery from the chambers after repeated interjections during debate on the Wyndham Plan, which eventually passed with a majority.
Seeking to create the type of city envisioned in the Wyndham 2040 Community Vision, the plan predicts the municipality will have a population of 500,000 in 17 years time, requiring it to transform from a collection of individual suburbs to a single urban area centred around a City Heart and National Employment and Innovation Cluster.
The plan includes six big ideas to achieve this vision, including a Wyndham Transport Network, development of Derrimut Road Boulevard, Green Lungs Coast and Country to connect Wyndham’s population to its rural areas and natural environment and Living Residential Neighbourhoods.
The latter idea has proven the most controversial as it includes references to planning concepts such as 20 minute cities and Smart Cities which conspiracy theorists have claimed are tools for mass-surveillance, and restrictions on movement and personal freedom.
The plan’s consultation report noted that a majority of people who attended public forums and wrote submissions raised concerns about the plan restricting their movements, forcing council officers to repeatedly deny this would be the case.
Despite this, members of the public loudly complained about 20 minutes cities and of being ignored while councillors were trying to speak in favour.
One of them, councillor Robert Szatkowski, said the Werribee he grew up in was a 20 minute city and that he wante the same for his children.
“I don’t want them to be more than 20 minutes away from services,” Cr Szatkowski said.
“For me that seems like that they’ve missed out on the things that I had and so it seems like a really big disadvantage for my children to grow up in a city where services aren’t within reach.”
Speaking against the plan, councillor Mia Shaw said while no other council apart from the city of Melbourne was implementing 20 minute neighbourhoods, her main concern was the cost.
“I don’t believe we can afford this,” Cr Shaw said.
“This document gives no indication of what this could cost council and ratepayers to implement.”
Cr Shaw was joined by Cr Heather Marcus in voting against the plan.
