Restarting work on the Western Highway duplication between Buangor and Ararat remains in limbo as the government faces a Supreme Court challenge over the project.
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Work stopped due to VicRoads’ failure to apply for a new planning permit for the 12-kilometre section last month.
Opposition planning spokesperson David Davis said it was time the government stood up and explained to Ararat district residents what went wrong.
“There is no doubt the planning minister and roads minister have gone to ground – they are in witness protection,” he said,
“They know they have done the wrong thing and they know this is a mistake.”
Mr Davis said Planning Minister Richard Wynne and Roads Minister Luke Donnellan needed to take responsibility for the error.
“If it is good enough for a bureaucrat to resign over this mistake it is good enough for others,” he said.
“We have had the situation of a media release being issued indicating that the planning process is not in place, so the planning minister needs to act quickly and ensure that there is no hiatus in this process.”
The government has refused to comment due to Supreme Court action started by landowner MairiAnne Mackenzie to stop the duplication from going ahead on its current alignment..
A spokesperson for Mr Wynne said the Planning Department will assist VicRoads in finding a solution and will keep the public informed of any progress.
“Because the project is the subject of Supreme Court proceedings, it is not appropriate to comment further,” the spokesperson said.
The planning minister must also wait until VicRoads applies for another permit to move ahead with construction.
Ripon MP Louise Staley said the delay could cost up to 80 jobs for Ararat workers.
“It is a particularly delicate time because we have got the wind farm concluding, so for the workforce from there, this would be the next civil engineering project,” she said.
“To have it stopped now there are serious employment issues, which flow through because you build roads in good weather and if they don’t get this going again now, we run out of the weather.
