COMMUNITY WINS: Transport company reverses plan to build massive freight hub on rare grasslands in Green Wedge
After months of campaigning with the community of Little River, everyone involved is elated that the multinational freight company Pacific National has shelved its plans to build a 550 hectare freight terminal in the middle of a green wedge corridor, which would have devastated native grasslands and rare animals.
The township of Little River is located south of Werribee, and the river which the town is named after (and the actual river which the Little River Band is named after) is upstream of the renowned Ramsar wetlands of Werribee South, which has a greater diversity of birdlife than Kakadu National Park.
All of this was under threat.
The fight to halt the $5 billion terminal had all the hallmarks of an epic battle: a corporate giant up against the plucky little community and environmental groups trying to protect a vulnerable ecosystem.
The community, led by the Little River Action Group, spent months organising and planning. Their petition against the project, which I tabled in Parliament, was signed by over 5000 people. They amassed these signatures over just a couple of weekends.
On the 5th of September 2024, Pacific National Pacific National announced it was withdrawing its application for planning and environmental approvals with state government agencies, saying in a statement:
“Pacific National has made this decision given the changed timelines for associated freight and infrastructure projects and economic factors which have impacted on the project business case.“
However, it is clear that the community protest, held weeks earlier, impacted the decision.
On the 24th of August, around 250 people protested at the site alongside a 25m crane, demonstrating how high shipping containers would be stacked.
The community voiced their concerns that the terminal would bring bring significant noise, light pollution and fumes emissions to their door, and destroy the environmental value of the area.
We spoke about how the terminal would have fed up to 1500 trucks per day from the freight hub through the western suburbs of Melbourne, and any runoff from the site would have fed into the river, and the wetlands.
Coverage of the protest appeared widely on TV, radio and online news, to an estimated audience of 1.6 million people.
The protest was a huge success, but it didn’t happen overnight. Many months of organising, planning and mobilising went into it. My office worked closely with LRAG, as well as engaging with government ministers behind the scenes — raising concerns surrounding the project directly with decision makers.
Little River community wins environmental award
The absolute icing on the cake was Little River Action Group and Grassy Plains Network winning a community award from Environment Victoria.
The Community Environment Awards recognised the remarkable work that had gone into the campaign, working with very limited resources.
LRAG and GPN were recognised in the category of ‘Campaign Impact’, highlighting the incredible work over many months, organising and making submissions to object to the proposal, and culminating in the protest which captured the attention of the media, and broadcast all over the country.
Signed by the President and CEO of Environment Victoria, the award states:
‘Your achievements show what’s possible when people unite to stand up for environmental justice and protect our natural world.’
Allan government must take further action to protect Green Wedges
The fight doesn’t stop here. I’m calling on the Allan Government to do more to secure Melbourne’s 12 green wedge zones, set aside by government in the 1970s .
The Little River site is covered in critically endangered western plains grasslands, among the last 1 per cent of volcanic plains grassland in Victoria, and home to around a dozen threatened animal species. Residents have photographed the endangered Growling Grass Frog in Little River, and critically endangered Golden Sun Moths on neighbouring land. Two Wedge-tailed Eagles nest on the site and Fat-tailed Dunnarts also live nearby.
It’s imperative that the Victorian government not walk away from their obligations to acquire, rehabilitate and preserve sites, like the Little River Precinct.
16 years ago, the state government signed the Melbourne Strategic Assessment — an agreement with the Commonwealth to conserve and protect land with environmental significance within the urban growth boundary. Audits show the program is in shambles, with the government falling well short of its 15,000 hectare target. To date, less than 20% has been acquired.
The government must move quickly to acquire the Little River site and ensure its incorporation into the Western Grasslands Reserve, a central part of the MSA agreement.
If the government is going to take meaningful action to reverse the alarming rate of ecosystem collapse and animal species extinction, it must protect areas like this from industrial development such as this. We need to think of green wedges as environmental infrastructure. Not only do they act as a buffer between Melbourne and regional Victoria to clean the air and shield arable land from city contaminants, they are the highways animals need to move around our urban environments safely.
Take the four points
While there is still much to do, this is a win for the environment and a victory for commonsense.
I would like to thank the community for taking me on this journey with them, and the council offices and government advisers who assisted us in shaping such a good outcome.
The incredible impact of this campaign has shown what can be achieved when people join together in the interests of protecting their community and the environment.
