‘Stop the evictions’: Techno Park Drive residents and supporters marched to Hobsons Bay council chambers

A former council executive labelled recent moves by Hobsons Bay as “bastardry” after Tuesday’s meeting was moved online amid fears of a march on town hall.

A council in Melbourne’s west cancelled its in-person meeting over safety fears after vulnerable residents facing eviction organised a march to the town hall.

Residents of Techno Park Drive, Williamstown who are battling eviction from their industrial-zoned homes labelled comments from their mayor as “insulting and absurd”, ahead of Tuesday’s Hobsons Bay City Council meeting.

Former Altona Council (amalgamated) chief executive John Shaw attended the protest and said the decision by Hobsons Bay to send eviction notices was “an act of bastardry”.

“After hearing those of us set to attend the meeting can no longer do that, I think it’s a very cowardly decision by the council and we should never support people who are cowards,” Mr Shaw said.

He also penned a letter to Hobsons Bay, seen by the Herald Sun, declaring the Techno Park evictions were the “worst decision” the council had ever made and there could not be a worse time to remove people from homes.

Residents and supporters met at Alton Beach on Tuesday night before marching to Hobsons Bay City Council's chambers. Picture: Nilsson Jones

Some of the protesters were due to appear at the meeting and ask questions, however, the council made a last minute decision to move the meeting online.

A council spokesman said the decision was made in the interest of “the safety and wellbeing of the community, councillors, and council staff”.

Mayor Tony Briffa said it was a “difficult but necessary decision”.

“There are several factors that led us to believe that going ahead with an in-person meeting at the Civic Centre risked exposing the community, councillors and council staff to an unpredictable, stressful and potentially volatile environment,” she said

About 15 questions directly regarding Techno Park Drive were read by the mayor during the online meeting.

The Herald Sun earlier reported Techno Park Drive residents and their supporters would march from Logan Reserve, Altona to the council chambers on Tuesday night and demand the mayor “stop the evictions”.

A notice was posted to the doors of Hobsons Bay City Council on Tuesday after the decision was made to host the August meeting online. Picture: Nilsson Jones

On Monday, mayor Briffa said the state government was unlikely to approve a rezoning or overlay and believed the process would be “complex, lengthy and extremely difficult”.

She said WorkSafe Victoria provides guidance on safety areas that should be maintained around designated Major Hazard Facilities, such as the ExxonMobil site, of which Techno Park Drive falls within the inner safety area, or ‘blast zone’.

“Contrary to some comments in the media, council has never accepted residents living in Techno Park Drive and has never granted any planning permits that are consistent with a residential use,” Ms Briffa said.

Techno Park Drive residents and supporters met at Logan Reserve, Altona on Tuesday before marching to town hall. Picture: Nilsson Jones

“While it has been reported that people have been living at Techno Park … over the past 35 years … I have not heard of anyone who has lived there for more than 14 years.”

Ms Briffa reiterated the council had no intention of seeing people become homeless but added that not everyone living there was vulnerable or at risk of homelessness.

The comments drew the ire of residents and supporters, with one labelling particular assertions from the mayor as “insulting and absurd”.

Hobsons Bay Council mayor Tony Briffa said the decision to host the meeting via online was difficult but necessary. Picture: Supplied

“The assertion that you and the council keep making — that you will ‘help’ residents by removing us from our homes and dumping us into housing and mental health services — is both insulting and absurd” one said.

“Wow this is written as if the mayor had been coached into saying those exact words. It’s not right and is unacceptable,” another said.

Residents also prepared a response which labelled the mayor’s comments “misleading” ahead of the meeting.

Protesters outside the council chambers made speeches and shouted chants including ‘once a home, always a home, save techno park’. Picture: Nilsson Jones

“The mayor states that ‘Techno Park Drive has never been zoned residential’ this is misleading,” the statement read.

“Residential use was permitted prior to the zoning being applied, it just wasn’t called residential zoning at the time.

Mobil supplies about 40 per cent of Victoria’s fuel through its Melbourne terminal.

A spokesman said Mobil will continue to play a vital role in Australia’s fuel security, which will include the storage tanks near Techno Park.

“The federal government’s Mandatory Stockholding Obligation came into effect on 1 July 2023 and has required us to add 100 million litres of petrol and diesel storage at the site by refurbishing a number of tanks across our facility,” the spokesman said.

“We continue to review what further investment may be required to maintain compliance when the Mandatory Stockholding Obligation requirements increase in July 2024, which may mean refurbishing more tanks at the site.”

You can read the Mayor’s full statement here.

You can read the response from residents here.

More than 12,000 people have signed an online petition calling on the council to withdraw the eviction notices.