Melbourne 2030 Implementation Reference Group - critical reports

You may remember that after M2030 was introduced in August 2002, the State Government also set up a formal statutory committee to advise the government on its implementation.  However, when Justin Madden took over from Rob Hulls as Planning Minister in 2007, one of his first actions was to unilaterally abolish this Implementation Reference Group.

The IRG consisted of representatives from a range of academic, community, industry and development organisations, including SOS.  It was the government's only formal link to the wider community for feedback on rolling out the M2030 policy in practice. 

However, the IRG was critical of the way the government had introduced the policy before most of the necessary council structure plans and upgraded public transport services had been put in place. 

In particular, it was critical of the Metropolitan Transport Plan (launched November 2004) and the way M2030 seemed to be operating in an ad hoc way without the necessary inter-departmental support.

As the failings of the implementation of M2030 became increasingly apparent, all mention of the M2030 IRG and related documentation (reports and minutes) was quietly removed from the DPCD website with Stalinesque sleight of hand in February 2009.  "Melbourne @ 5 Million" (introduced in December 2008) was now the order of the day and earlier policy failures were best forgotten or given a new slant.

The only critical online record left of the implementation of M2030 is Rob Moodie’s 2008 M2030 Audit Report - a little too important and significant to bury.

However, SOS managed to save most of the M2030 IRG documentation as an invaluable record of how badly the M2030 policy was implemented.  The following IRG reports are now available below:

OVERVIEW OF THE I.R.G.

PRIORITY IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES

RESPONSE TO THE METROPOLITAN TRANSPORT PLAN

     [CHALLENGES TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ACTIVITY CENTRE POLICY]                   (This is a larger file which will be uploaded shortly)

An Activity Centre Thematic Working Group (ACTWG) was also set up as a sub-committee of the M2030 IRG and directed by the Minister to try and find "best practice" cases of development projects under M2030 in activity centres, which he wanted to try and promote the "benefits" of M2030.

SOS made a submission in June 2006 (see download links below) criticising many of the projects initially nominated. Significantly, none of those we critiqued were included in the final list of projects which was finally complied in September 2007, but too late to save M2030 from having to be "re-badged":    

Pentridge Village, Coburg 
Bayside Entertainment, Frankston 
Maddern Square Redevelopment, Footscray 
Residential Redevelopment, Newport 
Pelican Park Precinct, Hastings
Apartment Building, Elsternwick
Mixed Use Development, Bentleigh 
Carnegie Library & Community Centre
 

Ian Wood

SOS President