The future of the next stage of Western Highway duplication hangs in limbo.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After a long stand off with VicRoads, Buangor landowner Mairi Anne Mackenzie and her legal counsel Michael Kennedy are preparing for a Supreme Court hearing seeking to halt works between Buangor and Ararat until a judicial review can be held into the project.
Separately, Mr Kennedy has also requested for Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio to approve an Interim Conservation Order on the project under section 26 of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.
Similarly, if the ICO is upheld then any works on the project, including the tender process, would be halted.
Works on the section are due to start in 2017 and pre-construction work started last month, but was stopped on Tuesday when VicRoads agreed to Justice Tim Ginnane's court order not to undertake any more works until November 7.
The case will return to the Supreme Court on that date.
Ms Mackenzie believes the current approved alignment, running through her property, will cause significant environmental damage and has not been adequately identified in VicRoads’ Environmental Effects Statement.
Numerous environmental reports from independent consultants also cast doubts over the accuracy of the EES, which then-Planning Minister Matthew Guy used to approve to alignment in 2013.
The same EES led to the destruction of almost 700 extra old trees at an earlier duplication stage in Beaufort.
Crucially, a report by consultants Biosis, commissioned by VicRoads, effectively backed Ms Mackenzie's claim.
VicRoads project director Mick McCarthy did not say if VicRoads would restart pre-construction from November 7 or if it would re-visit planning if required.
“Given the matter is before the courts, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further,” he said.
Mr Kennedy said the application for an ICO from Ms D’Ambrosio was justified, given supporting environmental reports.
“The beauty of that (an ICO) is that it’s the Minister's decision, it doesn't involve any court decision,” he said.
Ms D’Ambrosio’s office has been contacted for comment.
Ms Mackenzie’s claim received some support from a group of nearby residents under the banner of ‘Keep the Original Route Supporters Incorporated’.