East Metro upper house Greens representative, the Hon Tim Clifford MLC echoed community concern at Tuesday’s Special Meeting of Electors. He deplored the lack of vision in relation to this development and demanded that the Council begin at last to listen to community and demonstrate transparency.
“The City of Swan has spent $32.5 million on the Midland Oval Redevelopment Plan and doesn’t have a business case. The community demand to know what the Council has spent this money on.
“The people of Midland made it clear on Tuesday that they want to see true consultation. They want a liveable city that includes large green spaces and a council that is transparent about how it spends their rates.”
Close to 250 people packed the town hall on Tuesday almost all of them expressing their dissatisfaction with the MORM. A motion proposed at the meeting to stop work and present a plan that includes the existing oval was met with an almost unanimous yes vote.
Mr Clifford reminded councillors that they were elected, just like he was, to represent the views of the community.
“The community wants a contemporary design for Midland, not a plan that was first mooted fifty years ago. The MORM proposal is outdated and will not lead to a vibrant and connected city, which is what Midland needs for now and into the future.
“How can the City continue to assert that its consultation with 64 people was sufficient, when it is clear that hundreds of people disagree?”
Under the MORM, the current oval space of around 2.3 hectares will be replaced by a green area of around 0.26 hectares. This is only slightly larger than the existing Juniper Gardens, a green space of just 55m in diameter.
“If we are serious about providing a space that the community can use, and preventing another concrete-filled heat island, we must take note of the community’s concerns and work towards a contemporary, sensitive and community-driven plan.”