Cade Lucas
A community consultation session held by rail company Pacific National on its plans for a freight hub in Little River, has been described as ‘farcical’.
The session conducted over Zoom on Thursday night involved representatives from Pacific National and the Department of Transport and Planning discussing the company’s plans to build a privately funded, 500 hectare freight hub, with members of the Little River community.
However, opponents of the proposal such as Emma Suctliffe from campaign group PNGF, said certain Zoom functions were turned off during the meeting, meaning it was a one-sided discussion in favour of Pacific National.
“There was no chat and the Q&A function was locked so we could only see our own questions that we were typing, nobody else’s were visible,” she said.
“They could then cherry pick the questions they wanted to answer and they’d clearly rehearsed answers in advance.”
Pacific National Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer, Saskia Groen-in’t-woud and Project Manager, Brad Richards, were on the Zoom call and Ms Suctliffe said even when they did answer questions, they didn’t do so fully.
“One of the questions around foreign ownership of Pacific National was fobbed off by saying they have a board of management based in Australia.”
Senior Impact Assessment Officer at the Department of Transport and Planning, Talia Schlen, was also on the call, explaining the Environmental Effects Statement (EES) process which the proposed freight hub is currently being subject to.
A spokesperson for Pacific National said the consultation meeting provided ample opportunity for members of the public to ask questions
“The questions and answer function and chat yielded 56 questions or comments from participants, the majority of which were answered during the session,” the spokesperson said.
“The video of webinar will be published on the project website next week, with a transcript and question and answer document allowing more community members to watch the presentation and learn about the project if they are interested.”
The company announced plans for its own freight hub in Little River in October, after growing frustrated the slow progress of a publicly funded freight terminal in Truganina.
The lease on the company’s existing base at Dynon Road, West Melbourne, expires in 2029.
The Little River project has prompted fierce opposition from the local residents concerned about its potential impact on community health and the environment, particularly as the proposed site is on green wedge land adjacent to the Western Grasslands Conservation Reserve.
Earlier this month Wyndham council refused to grant Pacific National permits to clear vegetation on the site for pre-construction works, due to environmental concerns.
In person consultation meetings between the company and the Little River residents are scheduled for next month, but Ms Suctliffe doubts they will be any better than the online version.
“We’ll be asked to sit quietly while they talk at us again.”
