Developers donations make a dogs breakfast for planning

Fishermans Friend

What’s legal in Victoria in regards to developer donations goes a long way to explain this situation, the Fishermans Bend palavar debacle also stemmed from completely screwing up the Melbourne Metro Rail project and renaming it Melbourne Rail Link. Well, briefly that is.

Liveable Melbourne petition – Ban Developers Donations: Victoria has some of the weakest rules about political donations in the western world.

Yarra Campaign for Action on Transport statement from August 2014: Ugly smell of corruption moves from Spring Street to Collins Street

The Age: Matthew Guy shunned warnings of ‘suboptimal’ Fishermans Bend. Royce Millar, Ben Schneiders, Chris Vedelago

Planning experts at RMIT have released an alternative vision for the Fishermans Bend urban renewal area that could be rolled out across Melbourne – and there’s not a skyscraper in sight.

Former planning minister Matthew Guy shunned the early warnings of his own top planning officials when he launched Australia’s largest urban renewal project without a clear plan or finance for community infrastructure including transport, open space and affordable housing.

Confidential departmental briefs from early 2011 to 2013 obtained by The Sunday Age, reveal how senior bureaucrats urged Mr Guy to buy key strategic sites before allowing redevelopment of industrial Port and South Melbourne to create the Fishermans Bend precinct.

“Lack of investment in such sites is likely to result in sub-optimal market responses and development outcomes,” warned department heads in one of the briefs from early 2011. “Such outcomes are difficult to revisit late for further improvement and development.”