By Sharon Webb

MEANDER VALLEY Council has signalled it will use its powers to block public meetings on the proposed Northern Regional Prison.

The mayor of the Meander Valley Council said he is committed to facilitating community discussion on the State Government’s second site for a northern prison, but rejected a petition calling for a public meeting because it fell 86 signatures short.

Cllr Wayne Johnston said the petition from anti-prison group WRAP was not ‘compliant with certain legislative requirements’.

It’s the worst-kept secret in the municipality that most of the nine councillors support the prison: six in favour, two against and one unknown.

While councillors supposedly maintain neutrality to fulfil their planning authority role on the prison planning application, the Mercury newspaper reported in June that even the mayor said it was ‘a good thing the Northern Regional Prison development will stay in the municipality.’

WRAP president Linda Poulton said, ‘We believe the council must face its community publicly to properly canvass sentiment on the prison proposal.’

‘We therefore propose to gather signatures on a new petition seeking a public meeting on the Northern Regional Prison proposal.

‘We now know that the council will most likely decline to hold a meeting unless compelled to do so and we will ensure that there are no loopholes this time around.’

A petition obliging the council to hold a public meeting must have 747 signatures of people on the municipality’s electoral roll.

But it has the option of accepting a petition for a public meeting with fewer than 747 signatures, as it did in February 2018 when it held a public meeting on the proposed Westbury recreation centre with under 500 signatures.

The Examiner reported that of 865 WRAP petition signatures, 44 were duplicates, 102 did not provide a full address, 51 were outside the municipality and seven did not present information to determine their address.

‘By the council’s own reckoning the petition contained 661 valid signatories,’ Ms Poulton said.

‘The council considered that an additional 102 ratepayers in the municipality should not be counted as they had not provided their full address. WRAP had offered to provide the council with the additional information for these 102 signatories before its meeting but this offer was declined by the general manager.’

Cllr Johnston said the council will seek information about planned prison consultation and the timeframes for the release of due diligence information on the site.

‘Council met with pro and anti-prison groups in February, making a commitment to work with representatives from both groups to ensure everyone has equal access to consultation avenues,’ he said.

‘This commitment continues across to the new site. We want to ensure everyone has the opportunity to have their say in a respectful way. When we have more information we will bring together community representatives to plan consultation.’

In June Corrections Minister Elise Archer announced the site change for the proposed $270 million prison from Glen Avon Farm at 135 Birralee Road, to 70 hectares of crown reserve further down Birralee Road.