By Luke Voogt
Geelong would lose public parkland if the Liberals’ achieved their vision of a foreshore convention centre, according to a veteran local environmentalist.
Geelong Environmental Council’s Joan Lindros instead backed the Labor State Government’s alternative to build the centre on a university car park, which she said would “protect” the waterfront.
The Liberals’ idea for a convention centre on Western Beach would be an overdevelopment, she said.
“We want to keep the waterfront free for everybody to use. It should be available for all people, not just people attending conventions.”
But federal MP Sarah Henderson dismissed Ms Lindros’s concerns, saying a convention centre on Western Beach would be subject to strict environmental evaluation.
“At the moment there’s simply a path and very little community space,” the Member for Corangamite said.
“It would be low-lying, iconic, beautiful building on the waterfront which would actually add significant amounts of community open space.”
Ms Henderson and state South Barwon MP Andrew Katos have called for the Andrews Government to consider Western Beach for the proposed convention centre.
“Whether it’s constructed on the water’s edge, on pylons or on reclaimed land jutting into the bay, the possibilities … are endless,” Ms Henderson said.
She demanded that State Government release the findings of its $1 million business case for construction of the centre on Deakin University’s waterfront car park.
“It’s been shrouded in secrecy,” she said.
“I get the impression that what the Victorian Government is proposing is a 10-storey high box.”
