Power plant in spotlight
Greens MLA Deb Foskey moved a motion in the Assembly today calling for the ACT Government to ensure that ActewAGL’s planned power station and data storage facility is subject to a rigorous Environmental Impact Analysis and a full program of community engagement.
“There is considerable concern in nearby suburbs with this plan for major development on Mugga Lane” Dr Foskey said.
“One of the problems with ACT planning processes is that the opportunity for people to comment on proposals, and find out more about them, can slip past before those most affected know what’s going on.”
“My motion called on the ACT Government to ensure the development would be subject to a full and rigorous health and environmental analysis and widely discussed and evaluated with the community.”
“The Opposition tried to amend the motion to simply say it should be somewhere else, which in my mind is an inadequate response to serious planning questions such as this.”
“The Government succeeded in amending the motion to say, in effect, that the existing legal process was being complied with, and that the consultation period has been extended.”
"My concern is that the existing legal process is inadequate for real community engagement.”
“If the Assembly had a minority government, I am confident it would have passed a motion today to give local residents a more respectful consultation process and the proposed development a more careful scrutiny” Dr Foskey said.
