In the last fortnight pamhplets have been mailed to every house in Giralang. The pamphlet opposes the Woolworths development at the derelict shop site and is attributed to “Combined Residents Action Group”. Sound familiar? It seems that it was intended to deceive Giralang residents into believing it came from the Giralang Residents Action Group (GRAG). It succeeded. Some Giralang residents believed GRAG now opposed the development.
As a result GRAG produced their own flyer, refuting many of these false claims, and hand delivered it to as many houses as possible in Giralang.
The original pamphlet text reads (and looks) like this:
—- start quote —-
- SAY NO TO WOOLWORTHS AT GIRALANG
- WOOLWORTHS ARE PROPOSING A LARGE TWO LEVEL SHOPPING CENTRE AT YOUR LOCAL SHOPS.
- DO YOU WANT APPROXIMATELY 20,000 CARS DRIVING THROUGH GIRALANG EACH WEEK?
- DO YOU WANT SEMI TRAILERS DRIVING THROUGH YOUR STREETS EARLY IN THE MORNING SEVEN DAYS A WEEK?
- THE WOOLWORTHS PROPOSED LOADING FACILITIES ARE NEXT TO THE GIRALANG PRIMARY SCHOOL WHICH COULD RESULT IN CHILDREN BEING INJURED
YOUR HOME VALUES WILL FALL!!
SAY NO TO WOOLWORTHS COMING TO GIRALANG SHOPS!!
KEEP GIRALANG SHOPS A LOCAL SHOPPING CENTRE WITH AN IGA CONVENIENCE SUPERMARKET & SPECIALTY STORES.
LODGE YOUR OBJECTIONS TO D.A. #200914054 VIA EMAIL TO:
ACTPLA: app.sec@act.gov.au
OR ALTERNATIVELY SEND TO:
APPLICATIONS SECRETERIAT
PO BOX 365
MITCHELL ACT 2911
APPLICATIONS MUST BE LODGED BY 14 APRIL 2009
OBJECTIONS TO D.A. #200914054 CAN BE MADE ON THE BASIS THAT THE PROPOSAL DOES NOT COMPLY WITH CZ4 LOCAL CENTRE ZONE NOR TERRITORY PLAN OBJECTIVES AND THE IMPACT OF TRAFFIC ON CANOPUS CRESCENT AND CHUCULBA CRESCENT, WHICH ARE MINOR COLLECTOR ROADS, WILL BE EXCESSIVE.
COMBINED RESIDENTS ACTION GROUP
—- end quote —-
Who is behind this Combined Residents Action Group? Someone with the resources to individually mail a pamphlet to all the houses in Giralang. I’ll leave it up to the fertile imaginations of the RiotACT commentators to come up with some ideas .. lets just say you don’t have to be SUPA smart to figure it out.
The claims the pamphlet makes are mostly spurious:
- The proposed development will be the same height as the current one (it is two level because the site will be excavated and underground parking will be constructed)
- According to the DA lodged with ACTPLA, nothing like 20,000 cars will be driving through Giralang each week. They have taken the figure of an extra 140 vehicles per hour at evening peak time and multiplied it by 24 hours and 7 days.
- Woolworths have informed GRAG that there will typically be 3 semi-trailers arriving at the site per week. All during the day.
- The loading facilities are physically separated from the school by a large brick wall. The trucks will go into the loading area forwards and only reverse once they are inside the loading dock. There is a picture of how it will work in the application documents.
I reckon it is ordinary putting out dishonest rubbish like this, and attempting to make it seem like it came from GRAG is pretty low.
If you are a Giralang Resident or interested party (live nearby or bring your kids to play soccer at the ovals and might use the shops) then today is your last day to lodge your opinion with ACTPLA. You would have to hand-deliver it, or email them (app.sec@act.gov.au).
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