Major announcement on Werribee South youth prison

THE Andrews Government, bowing to a public backlash, has moved the site for its controversial new youth jail from Werribee South.

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THE Andrews Government, bowing to a public backlash, has moved the site for its controversial new youth jail from Werribee South.

The $288 million youth justice centre will now be built at a site called Cherry Creek, next to the Werribee tip and quarry.

The 60ha site is bigger than the Hoppers Lane site at Werribee South, and there is a buffer of about 2km from the half-dozen homes in the area.

The Werribee South site, not far from tourist spots like the Werribee Zoo, was just 700 metres away from homes.

Youth Affairs Minister Jenny Mikakos said the new site would be delivered in the existing Budget and was still due to be completed in 2020.

She said the site for the “youth prison supermax”, which will hold the state’s worst juvenile offenders, met all the criteria, including proximity to transport.

She denied the backdown was an embarrassment.

“I acknowledge there were people in the local community that were not happy about the preferred site. We have listened to the community and proposed this alternative site,” Ms Mikakos said.

She said Cherry Creek had not been one of the 16 sites initially considered, because it had not been on the government’s surplus land register.

A map showing the location of the new and old proposed prison sites.

The State Government has bowed to community pressure and will move its $288 million youth justice facility.

Locals protest against the building of a youth justice centre in Werribee.

The land parcel had been used for grazing and crop cultivation, and Melbourne Water, which owned it, had said it was not surplus to its needs. But after Wyndham council suggested the site, and negotiations with Melbourne Water followed, it became available.

Treasurer Tim Pallas, who is the member for Werribee, had been on the receiving end of residents’ ire and said they would be relieved a more appropriate site had been found.

“I don’t like to see my community feel the angst they clearly demonstrated on that site selection,” Mr Pallas said.

But he warned the announcement should not be seen as a precedent that public backlashes would result in the reversal of decisions on other unpopular projects.

He said the government would review other land on its books that was not considered surplus but which might be suitable for other purposes.

Wyndham mayor Henry Barlow said he was pleased with the decision.

But Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the reversal was a panicked decision by a government in crisis. He said the youth prison should be built near an adult jail.