Former GM told MV councillors: No need for ‘formal endorsement’ of a prison site search

By Sharon Webb

THE FORMER general manager of the Meander Valley Council told councillors there was no need to put his search for prison sites to a full council meeting – and they took his word for it. Two emails from former general manager Martin Gill gained under the Right to Information Act reveal that State Government officers nominated two possible prison sites in the Meander Valley and Mr Gill did the legwork to put forward expressions of interest. The 2018 emails show that at least three current Meander Valley councillors, who will be on the planning authority examining possible rezoning of the proposed 135 Birralee Road Westbury site for a prison, knew about the whole process and accepted Mr Gill’s advice not to reveal it publicly in an open council meeting.

In his 26 September 2018 email Mr Gill discounted the need for the full Meander Valley Council to endorse his actions searching for prison sites. He claimed, ‘If our role is simply to facilitate … landowners making an EOI submission we probably don’t need formal endorsement of council’. Because no council meeting discussed Meander Valley sites being considered, the municipality’s residents were blindsided a year later by Corrections Minister Elise Archer’s announcement of Westbury being the favoured site. Residents had no way of knowing any site other than Ashley Youth Detention Centre was being contemplated. Councillors Michael Kelly, Tanya King and John Temple, all councillors before the October 2018 local government election, received emails dated 26 and 27 September 2018 from former general manager Martin Gill describing the search for sites and his communications with the State Government.

Former mayor Craig Perkins who recently stated he ‘can’t recall’ any discussions on prison sites, also received the emails, as well as former councillors Deb White and Ian Mackenzie. Several names on the emails were redacted. Councillor Kelly refused to answer questions on the matter, saying he was ‘away’ and there was ‘not a chance’ he could answer questions. Cllr King defended her actions. ‘There really was no decision to make, as there simply wasn’t enough detail. To this day, there has still been no proposal or submission in order for council to make a decision on,’ she said. ‘It is normal for a GM or delegated officer to pursue investment and projects within the municipality. I believe he was simply doing his job.’ Cllr King’s recollection of Mr Gill’s involvement was vague – ‘that the GM at the time expressed a view that there was a possibility that some private land owners were wishing to pursue the project. He did not provide details of the landowners, or the proposed locations.’ Cllr Temple said he thought the emails solely related to the Ashley site – which the council had supported as a prison site. ‘Obviously I didn’t get the right nuance from these emails. I was surprised when the Minister made the announcement. ‘With the benefit of hindsight I would have tackled this differently. This thing wasn’t talked about among councillors and it happened during the election process. ‘In my years as councillor I’ve found councillors compared notes on important issues. I’m amazed it didn’t happen in this case.’ The September 2018 emails, gained through RTI by the antiprison group WRAP, reveal Mr Gill told councillors he had discussed two sites ‘in some detail’ with the director of prisons, Ian Thomas. He also had discussions with the government’s project manager and her predecessor ‘about a couple of sites in the Meander Valley which they had some early interest in’. These were both private landholdings, he said, commenting, ‘Because of this I need to work with the landowners to discuss their support to nominate their land in the EOI process.’ On 27 September Mr Gill added, ‘At a strategic level, a site along, or with easy access to the Bass Highway west of Launceston, fits the underpinning criteria and suits the objective to service the courts in the north as well as address the issue of family and community access. ‘A facility cannot be built on the same land as Ashley. There is a UN convention that prevents this occurring. ‘The prison will be built behind a solid wall. ‘There is a possibility that two facilities will be built in separate locations. The second facility would be a transport hub to service prison and court transport.’