The Gutwein Government’s proposed Burnie Court House
relocation project been ticked off by just one vote after months of
deliberation.
Shadow Building and Construction Minister Jen
Butler said the government’s woefully misguided plan to relocated the court out
of the CBD into a residential area is reckless and will cost the business
community.
Ms Butler – who, as a member of the Public
Works Committee, submitted a dissenting report – said the decision to move the
court will remove 50,000 people from the city centre each year, was undertaken
without any economic modelling and limited consultation and came with an
exorbitant cost of $40 million.
“The evidence is overwhelming that moving the
court from the Burnie CBD to Mooreville Road will have a huge economic effect
on the central business district and the fact is this decision has been taken
without consultation and is in spite of significant community opposition,” Ms
Butler said.
“In a word, it is reckless.
“There was only token research by the Justice
Department and the government’s procurement process involved extremely limited
attempts to find an alternative site within the city area.
“The government presented no data to
substantiate relocating the court three kilometres from the CBD to a largely
residential area.
“There is no Master Plan to develop a legal
precinct at the new site and, with police located in the city centre, there has
been no thought given to security risks to the community associated with a
court being located in a suburban area.
“The Mooreville Road area has limited
amenities to support the 50,000 additional people this project will bring to
the area annually.
“In addition, the question needs to be
answered about how the exorbitant cost of $40 million for this relocation – a
staggering increase on the $15 million the Attorney General originally proposed
– is a prudent use of taxpayer’s money.
“It makes no sense and the concerns raised by the business community, local residents, council and legal professionals have simply been ignored.”
Jen Butler MP
Shadow Minister for Building and Construction
