Tara Murray
A Brimbank councillor is calling for LeadWest to provide more advocacy on behalf of the local community on key projects.
Councillor Virginia Tachos highlighted the amount that council pays to be part of LeadWest each year at a recent council meeting and said she would like to see more advocacy to ensure value for money.
The council pays more than $50,000 a year to be part of the group which represents and advocates for five councils in Melbourne’s west.
“What I would like to see LeadWest do is a lot more advocacy on our behalf, so we get value for that money,” she said.
“That is to lobby hard for the superhub and the Albion station reconstruction. I’d like to see them also advocate on behalf of our community for the third runway impacts… Contamination, that is a massive issue that we are experiencing and I would like to see LeadWest stand up and fight for a contamination task force.”
LeadWest executive officer Sue La Greca said LeadWest had focussed on a number of outcomes and achieved results in the past two years.
They include significant governance review and structural change to improve advocacy work and enable cost efficiencies, developed the LeadWest Strategic Plan 2020-2030 plan, developed a LW communications plan, worked with strategic partners across the north and west to produce a North and West Melbourne City Deal which was launched in August 2020.
She said they had successfully advocated for key projects such as the Footscray and Melton Hospitals and building on the Greening the west project,
Projects they are continuing to advocate for include the Outer Metropolitan Ring Road, the Melbourne Airport Rail Link being delivered on time and leveraging off the MARL to boost economic investment in the Sunshine Super Hub and key projects from the North and West Melbourne City Deal
“LW is currently in the process of developing advocacy delegations for the LW committee to meet with commonwealth and state politicians early next year,” Ms La Greca said.
