Northern Geelong’s fight to not become ‘dumping ground’ for Melbourne
A new demographic in Geelong’s north has been taking up the fight against a slew of large industrial projects, with an expert saying the region is at risk of becoming Melbourne’s dumping ground.
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It was the project Little River locals feared would kill their town.
The air along the usually desolate roads of the volcanic plains northeast of Geelong in late August was permeated with tension.
An entire community was turning out to a seemingly random intersection on the outskirts of the tiny town.
Hundreds of people, politicians, a crane.
The latter represented the height of a proposed freight terminal the locals said would destroy their beloved town.
Needless to say, the stakes felt high for the tight-knit community.
From the moment Pacific National proposed an intermodal freight terminal, rally organiser and Little River local Adrian Hamilton made it his mission to stop the project.
“I was doing 20 hours a week working on stopping it,” Mr Hamilton said.
“It was a lot of work.
“When there’s a combative coming to your home territory, you pull out all the stops, don’t you?”
Mr Hamilton’s plight wasn’t unique: there are a slew of currently proposed projects north of Geelong that have sparked fierce opposition spearheaded by passionate community members.
Lara local Chaz Street has long been campaigning against a proposed Lara incinerator, TV personality Catriona Rowntree has brought plans for a Little River battery farm to the fore, while outgoing Lethbridge airport owner Garry Baum has raised concerns about a massive wind farm near Teesdale.
Mr Hamilton has experienced the moment they are all holding out for: he succeeded in stopping the project.
David had beaten Goliath.
“It was just an immense relief for everyone,” Mr Hamilton said.
“You drive in to town past that site and the visuals in your head change from what could have been, to what is left untouched.”
Human geographer professor Louise Johnson has spent years researching the history and practice of planning and social disadvantage in Geelong as well as working for not-for-profit Northern Futures, which addresses disadvantage in the northern suburbs.
Ms Johnson said the northern suburbs, which have historically been used at times as a dumping ground for Geelong, was at risk of now becoming a dumping ground for Melbourne.
“You wouldn’t put an incinerator in Newtown or Highton, would you?” she said.
“The northern suburbs have long been considered areas where you put factories, where you put lots of public housing.
“If you think about the kinds of things that are being either suggested or put in that area, they’re the sort of things a metropolis like Melbourne needs access to, or will benefit from.
“There’s clearly advantages in those areas in terms of topography, it’s much harder to go into Dandenong, for example, or the north of Melbourne where there’s housing developments.”
Ms Johnson said a boom in employment in the area was making the need for new industry nearly zero, and also shifting the area’s demographic.
“Parts are still incredibly disadvantaged, I don’t want to say it’s all full of middle class gentrifiers,” Ms Johnson said.
“But there is this new cohort that are probably less tolerant (to being a dumping ground), and also more politically tuned-in and more active.
“(They aren’t) willing to just take what’s presented to them, and therefore be more politically active and challenge things.”
They aren’t just doing this because they are from the “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) crowd, Ms Johnson said, they were doing it because they felt like there were legitimate concerns.
That is something Mr Hamilton said was “key” throughout his campaign.
“We provided so many reasons as to why it was ‘not just a NIMBY’,” Mr Hailton said.
“I think if you just go and do a NIMBY you’re not going to win anyway, you’re probably just going to delay the process.”
Even months after his campaign finished, Mr Hamilton slips into dictating pre-rehearsed blocks of information, lines he gave the media as campaign spokesman at the time.
These blocks are efficient, talking about environmental impact, the foresight of politicians to set up green wedges, and how getting rid of any part of the green wedge could be a slippery slope.
But elsewhere, the status of the Lara incinerator’s development licence is awaiting a VCAT decision, Golden Plains residents continue to fight the wind farm, and public consultation for the Little River battery project recently finished.
Mr Hamilton said one of the region’s weaknesses was that community groups working on separate issues didn’t help each other.
“Community action groups are very fragmented,” he said.
“They just talk about what they talk about in their area, they’re not really interested in joining forces and creating something bigger.”
The sites of the incinerator and battery farm fall in the electorate of Lara, with the wind farm and freight terminal just outside of it.
Lara MP Ella George has been regularly fielding calls and arranging meetings with concerned residents regarding them over the last year.
“As a local MP, I think one of the most important parts of my role is to listen to issues raised by the community and ensure that those voices are heard in Spring St,” Ms George said.
“In recent months, I have heard from many local residents about their concerns with projects, including the Lara incinerator – and I’ve always raised these concerns with the relevant ministers.
“As Geelong’s north grows, and we welcome more residents into Lara West and Lovely Banks in coming years, it is important to be mindful of planning decisions being made now that may impact these communities in the future.
“It’s important to strike the right balance – between essential projects, including industrial projects – and ensuring that these projects are in suitable locations and do not impact liveability.”
As much as community campaign leaders will be hoping to have their victory moment, Mr Hamilton said the work didn’t stop there.
“It’s a sigh of relief, but I don’t think it’s dead and buried,” he said.
“Another project could spring up, when the sense of urgency has dissipated.
“I haven’t switched off completely.”
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Originally published as Northern Geelong’s fight to not become ‘dumping ground’ for Melbourne
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