PLANNING Minister Matthew Guy has been accused of being “slippery and deceptive” after ministerial briefing papers show he was briefed on the Ports and Environs Report before making a decision on the Williamstown towers development.
Last December, the Weekly asked Mr Guy why he approved uncapped high-rise residential development near Mobil’s tank farm at Williamstown before receiving advice on safety buffers contained in the yet-to-be released Ports report.
He was also asked what he would do if the Ports report recommended a greater buffer distance between residential development and major hazard facilities.
Mr Guy had said: “I think that’s a hypothetical. I can’t make comment on recommendations on reports that I haven’t even seen. I don’t want to pre-empt any of them.”
But ministerial briefing papers dated October 13, 2011, obtained by the opposition under freedom of information, show Mr Guy was briefed on the Ports report before approving high-density development on the Port Phillip Woollen Mill site at Williamstown.
Mr Guy is yet to release the Ports report, 17 months after its completion. His office failed to respond to questions about the briefing document.
State Williamstown MP Wade Noonan said Mr Guy had been “caught out”.
“This briefing paper exposes minister Guy as being slippery and deceptive,” he said.
“‘Where is the logic and evidence in the six-page ministerial briefing to support the decision by minister Guy to drop the independent panel’s mandatory height control recommendation? I think the community has a right to know why the minister sided with the developer on the most sensitive issues.
“It’s absolutely clear the minister has been advised about the seriousness of building high-density, residential apartment towers near major-hazard facilities.”
