Flinders St station project going off the rails

A PLAN to redevelop Flinders St station could be junked as the new Labor Government assesses whether to go ahead with the project.

A PLAN to redevelop Flinders St station could be junked as the new Labor Government assesses whether to go ahead with the project.

Almost $1 million of taxpayers’ money was spent developing a business case for the Flinders St station redevelopment, dubbed the “giant ­cannelloni”.

State contracts show the Napthine government paid $930,000 to design company Hassell for the business case, which was to help it decide whether the redevelopment could be built with minimal taxpayer pain.

HAVE YOUR SAY: SHOULD THE FLINDERS ST STATION REDEVELOPMENT GO AHEAD?

Hassell, along with Swiss-based firm Hertzog & de Meuron, won an international design competition for the Flinders St station overhaul, which was commissioned by former premier Ted Baillieu.

Their design, which included a public plaza and an amphitheatre facing the river, saw them take home a $500,000 prize despite no firm commitment from the Government to build the design.

Last year, the Sunday Herald Sun revealed that the price tag for turning the vision into ­reality could be as high as $2 billion, and that only 20 per cent of the design had included commercial development ­opportunities.

The Hassell and Herzog & de Meuron’s station design.

Premier Daniel Andrews slammed the redesign process when Labor was in Opposition, describing it at the time as a “colouring-in competition”.

Under the previous government, the upgrade was managed by the Major Projects portfolio, which has been taken over by the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

The Herald Sun understands there has been no directive to stop work on the process, but that Labor has no plans to set aside large sums of taxpayers’ money for the work.

Government spokesman Chris Reilly criticised the former government.

“Denis Napthine spent $2 million of taxpayers’ money on a project the Coalition never intended to follow through on,” Mr Reilly said.

The design featured a public plaza and an amphitheatre facing the Yarra River.

“The Victorian Government is awaiting the final business case and it will be assessed.”

The design competition took more than a year and ­included $1 million in ­prizemoney.

Opposition spokesman John Pesutto said the Government needed to come clean on whether it would follow through on the design.

“Daniel Andrews has already been seen running from the metro rail tunnel, his signature public transport proposal; now he is running from providing any clear commitment to an upgrade of Flinders St ­station,” Mr Pesutto said.

“Just what are his plans for Melbourne’s public transport needs as we grow by more than 80,000 people a year?”

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