Little River residents rally against freight terminal they say will “kill” town
Hundreds of residents in a small town east of Geelong have come out in protest of a proposed freight terminal they say will “kill the town.”
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Hundreds of residents in a small town east of Geelong have come out in protest of a proposed freight terminal they say will “kill the town.”
Little River locals gathered at 10am on Saturday around a crane which displayed the height of seven freight containers stacked on top of each other.
They say this will become the norm for the site at the intersection of Old Melbourne and Little River roads, where Pacific National are set to build a $3b freight terminal.
Locals site a range of issues for their opposition to the proposed terrain, predominantly environmental, health and land value concerns.
Peter Hollis, who has lived in Little River for 25 years, said the terminal would “destroy the town.”
“It’ll kill the town,” he said.
“It’s going to be an eyesore, all you’re going to see is containers, we bought down here because we want to live in the country, and they want to destroy it by bringing this thing in here.
“It’s just not on, it’s a rural town not an industrial one.”
Rally organiser, Adrian Hamilton, likened the community’s plight to the biblical tale of “David and Goliath.”
“Our small town is coming up against a corporate monster,” Mr Hamilton said.
“This is really about Victoria, this is about preserving our green wedges, it sets a precedent for the rest of Victoria”
Mr Hamilton said the scope of the project was of concern.
“It is monstrously huge, the size of about 350 MCGs, and it’s right next to a town of 1200,” he said.
“I think it’s nothing more than a land-grab.”
Mr Hamilton said a proposed freight terminal in Truganina, which has since been shelved, would make more sense due to its proximity to the industrial west of Melbourne.
The rally was a community effort, funds raised from a barbecue at a local football game were used to create the seven-stacked-containers prop, with the borrowing of the crane a donation.
State upper house MP David Ettershank scolded the government for not striking the proposal down.
“This is meant to be the lungs of our city,” Mr Ettershank said.
“Instead of preserving the lungs of our city, as is the responsibility of the government, we are seeing a dirty deal between our government and a multinational transport company and a Malaysian land speculator.
“It’s disgraceful that the government is not taking action to stop this, to protect land they have committed themselves publicly to preserving.”
Mr Ettershank will table a just under 5000 signature petition to parliament on Tuesday opposing the development.
He committed to bringing it forward for debate in parliament in six weeks time.
A Pacific National spokesman said the side is going through “Victoria’s most comprehensive environmental assessment.”
“The preparation of an Environment Effects Statement (EES). The EES assesses the potential environmental effects of the project across a range of areas including ecological, heritage, landscape and social values and informs whether approvals are granted. The process involves community input and can take between 12 and 18 months to complete.
“Ensuring stakeholders’ knowledge and views are considered in both the project planning and decision-making phases is a key component of preparing an EES.”
When at full capacity, the precinct is expected to support more than 3,600 jobs.
Originally published as Little River residents rally against freight terminal they say will “kill” town
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