Mel Yuan for Brunswick

In the last 20 years, VicTrack, Melbourne Water and other government entities have sold off public land as “surplus”. At the same time, local councils have had to purchase private land for open space. Redevelopment of Jewel Station is now limited because the “surplus” land was developed for housing, making Skyrail less economically feasible. This is a state government planning “own goal”. Time and time again, short-sighted government land sell-offs lead to fewer planning options and higher costs, later.

It defies common sense to build 3 stations of Skrail and come back a decade later and build 3 more – with a drop down to street level in between. At the same time, Merri-bek is entertaining the idea of closing Hope Street at the rail line (according to the Brunswick Voice). This kind of poorly considered, flip-flopping has multi-million dollar consequences. It makes an episode of Utopia look good, and we deserve better.

The State Government must stop wasting taxpayers’ money on constant short-term, fragmented infrastructure solutions.