Get on with Harbour Esplanade

Get on with Harbour Esplanade

By Sean Car

Lord Mayoral hopeful Arron Wood said that, if elected, he would continue his strong advocacy for the upgrades of Harbour Esplanade and Central Pier.

Having served the previous council term as Deputy Lord Mayor, Mr Wood and his team are running against incumbent Lord Mayor Sally Capp in this election under the banner of “Revive Melbourne”.

He said the lack of progress on crucial Docklands projects to renew Harbour Esplanade and reconstruct Central Pier was an “indictment” on current leadership.

“It speaks to this idea that we’re [the council] listening to the concerns of residents and businesses down there. If there is no action, then you mark that as a failure,” he said.

Mr Wood said he was frustrated that plans for Harbour Esplanade, which went through community consultation in 2014, have been “kept behind closed doors” by Development Victoria and by the AFL as part of its plans to ugrade Marvel Stadium.

“I think the biggest frustration is that the community does all this hard work and then it gets hidden behind closed doors for years,” he said.

“What the community wanted is new open space, destination attractions, spaces for recreation and plan to knit the various fingers of Docklands together.”

“It was a 12-month consultation period and it’s been years now. We came up with all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas and the process disrespects Docklands resident input.”

With his parents being long-term NewQuay residents, Mr Wood, a Kensington resident, said he considered Docklands his second home and that, if elected, he would continue to advocate strongly for the community’s interests •

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