Williamstown MP and cabinet minister Melissa Horne has criticised the state’s Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) authority for attempting to gag Hobsons Bay council officers and keeping her in the dark about its controversial plans to remove level crossings in Newport.
At a meeting of Hobsons Bay council on February 18, infrastructure and city services director Matthew Irving confirmed the LXRP had asked him to sign a confidentiality agreement during discussions on the Newport level crossing removal project and controversial plans to close Champion Road.
“I did not feel comfortable to do so as I saw the type of information I would be exposed to as not needing to be confidential,” said Mr Irving of his response after being questioned on the matter by mayor Daria Kellander.
Ms Horne said she was disappointed to learn of the LXRP’s approach.
“Clear communication and transparency with the local community should be key to delivering this project and anything less is unacceptable,” she said.
Ms Horne also expressed surprise at some of the documents tabled at the meeting, including a letter from the LXRP to council outlining proposed road closures and a copy of the Environmental Management Framework (EMF) for the project, including plans to remove trees.
“They certainly have not shown me all that information,” said Ms Horne of the documents, adding that some of them contradicted information the authority had provided her.
“I’ve sought an urgent briefing,” she said of attempts to clarify the situation with the authority.
A spokesperson for the LXRP said project updates were regularly provided to all key stakeholders.
“We will continue to engage with the community as work progresses on getting rid of these dangerous level crossings,” said the spokesperson who also defended the attempt to keep negotiations with Hobsons Bay council confidential.
“Confidentiality agreements are standard practice during the planning phases of our projects, when technical details are not yet finalised.”
In response, Hobsons Bay council adopted a new approach to communicating with the LXRP, passing a motion ensuring all communications with the authority were reported to council in a quarterly update.
Speaking after the motion was passed, Cr Kellander told the meeting that she found the confidentiality request “alarming” and that from now on, all negotiations with the authority would be reported publicly.
“A phrase that I’ve learnt recently is that if there’s nothing to see there’s nothing to hide.”
