By Rhett Burnie
PRESSURE is mounting on the State Government to connect Wandong and Heathcote Junction to natural gas, with residents signing a petition demanding Premier Ted Baillieu honour his pre-election commitment to the project.
More than 600 residents signed the petition, organised by the Wandong Heathcote Junction Community Group.
It comes amid allegations the State Government has taken a further step back from the gas promise that was made on the eve of last year’s State Election when Mr Baillieu and then Seymour candidate Cindy McLeish visited Wandong “ensuring” the project would go ahead.
The two distributed a flyer that stated the Liberals were “pleased to announce that a Baillieu Government will work with the Mitchell Shire Council to ensure delivery of natural gas to Wandong and Heathcote Junction.”
The Liberals won the election and Ms McLeish became the Member for Seymour, but when a list naming the towns included in the first round of the project was released earlier this year, neither Wandong nor Heathcote Junction were mentioned.
The petition follows a letter from Ms McLeish to around 1400 residents telling them “costly infrastructure would be required to make this high pressure pipeline suitable for domestic use.”
The letter goes on to say that Mitchell Shire Council needs to push for the project to “support distributor interest in these communities” because it will be subject to a “central tender process.”
But Mitchell Shire Councillor Sue Marstaeller, who lives in Heathcote Junction, said Ms McLeish’s letter is the first sign of a “cop out”.
She said the previous Labor State Government, which also broke its promise for gas for the towns, had used the same excuse.
“They (the State Government) got a lot of votes they shouldn’t have got if they knew they weren’t going to do it,” Cr Marstaeller said.
She said Ms McLeish’s claim the project could be too costly showed the government had not done their research.
“You’d think that before they open their mouth they’d have done their research.”
She said if the project was not viable the government should look at other options, including a subsidy for residents forced to purchase gas bottles or use electric heating.
In a letter, which was sent to Ms McLeish last week accompanying the petition, Wandong Heathcote-Junction Community Group president David Moran reminds the MP “a promise is a promise.”
But Ms McLeish said the State Government is not backing away from the project.
“It (the tender process) is not a step backward,” she said.
“They think we’re backing away from something and we’re not.”
She said energy providers needed to know they were going to make money before committing to the project.
“They’re (energy providers) are not just going to lay the infrastructure,” she said.
She said she was “constantly” talking to Deputy Premier’s office about the issue and the petition showed the State Government the community want the infrastructure built.
“I think the fact that they’ve got 608 people to sign it (the petition) is fantastic,” Ms McLeish said.
