Council led search for Westbury prison site
Westbury rallies against the prison site
Photo by Mike Moores
From left, Anne-Marie Loader and Sally Day, with Toby and Tilly Booth, at the Saturday 26 October Town Hall meeting. Since the announcement of the Northern Regional Prison site on the Birralee Road outside Westbury, many local residents are angry about the lack of consultation by the State Government and are deeply concerned about the effect that the prison will have on their small community. More stories can be found on pages 7 and 8.
By Sharon Webb
MEANDER VALLEY Council’s former general manager Martin Gill led the process of supplying the municipality’s land options to the State Government for Tasmania’s new northern prison.
Councillors have known about it since at least November 2018, although they did not know the exact locations.
The director of the company owning the Westbury site, Neville Pope, said he was approached by Meander Valley Council for consent to submit an expression of interest in selling land to the State Government for the prison.
Mr Pope said his company, Glen Avon Farms, initiated nothing. Meander Valley Council had approached him for permission and had then submitted the expression of interest with no involvement from his company.
Mr Gill, manager of Victoria’s Queenscliffe Council since early October 2019, has confirmed ‘approaching five land owners and supporting two land owners in preparing EOI submissions’.
‘One of my key responsibilities in my position description … was to identify and pursue economic development opportunities that will benefit the council and community,’ Mr Gill said.
‘The proposed investment and job creation associated with the northern prison is a significant economic development opportunity for Meander Valley. I was pursuing this opportunity.’
Mr Gill said the current council was briefed about the EOI process during induction after the October 2018 elections and subsequently through briefing reports.
‘They were made aware that I was working with land owners to prepare EOI submissions. They were not aware of the location of those properties or who the landowners were.’
Mayor Wayne Johnston said he and the eight Meander Valley Council councillors knew Mr Gill had supplied the State Government with potential prison locations because they were briefed about it by email in November 2018.
‘The expressions of interest were submitted last year before I was elected to the council,’ Cllr Johnston said.
The closing date for EOI submissions was 22 October 2018. Local government postal voting was held 8–30 October. Mr Pope said, ‘We were approached by Meander Valley Council who were contacting a number of land owners for consent to submit an EOI for in our case, part of our land as a possible site, on the basis the council felt this would be good for the area.
‘From that point on we have had nothing to do with and were not involved in the process other than some site inspections and preliminary contract negotiations, until we were advised that we were the preferred site.
‘We only became aware of this shortly before the Minister’s announcement.’ Glen Avon Farms Pty Ltd has three directors listed at addresses in the UK and a fourth in Longford.
It occupies almost 401 hectares and is valued at S2.4m, with two dwellings, farm buildings and a dam on the property.
Glen Avon’s sister company, Selborne Biological Services, uses the site in its operations supplying animal blood products worldwide. Mr Pope is also a director of SBS.
Selborne Biological Services is located on the historic Mountford property at Pateena Road, Longford. sharon.webb@ meandervalleygazette.com