PLACEnews June 2010 Issue 7
When the Environmentalist Becomes the Developers Friend
Established in 2000 with the task of remediating and redeveloping over 80ha of disused railway workshops, the challenges for the Midland Redevelopment Authority (MRA) have been many and varied – but community engagement has not been high amongst them.
The MRA proudly claims to be community driven, with its formation a direct result of tenacious lobbying by a community with a vision for its future. This community ownership has laid the foundation for open and transparent engagement and a sense of real partnership. Recognising this important partnership the MRA has avoided complacency and developed a range of community engagement mechanisms to ensure it never takes the community’s faith for granted.
Sandwiched between two sensitive river systems and requiring extensive site remediation, Midland’s transformation has necessitated a strong environmental focus. To support this focus the MRA established a broad- based environmental reference group (MCERG), to coincide with the commencement of remediation work.
With representation from activist groups, local resident associations, local government, specialist organisations and independent citizens, MCERG’s primary focus has been to provide a forum for input and feedback on the development, monitoring and review of environmental processes and to ensure that MCERG members are informed to a level that they are able to disseminate information into the broader community.
MCERG has met regularly for over seven years, demonstrating the MRA’s ongoing willingness to share information in a transparent and timely manner – including the unexpected and challenging!
This transparency extends to the broader community with the MRA posting all independently certified environmental monitoring reports and data on its website and regularly using local media to explain the remediation process.
MCERG has been viewed by MRA staff and consultants as a conduit into the broader community, the members’ views and local knowledge are respected and valued and the process has proved to be robust. Here MRA staff and consultants can be quizzed and there is a rare sense of comradeship around a shared challenge and genuine desire to rehabilitate the former railway workshops. As a founding member of MCERG, Martin Chape puts it:
"The residential group I represent has been pleased to be included as a stakeholder in rejuvenating Midland. We appreciate being involved in improving our environment and working collaboratively to make Midland a better place. My community looks forward to future cooperation and partnership with the Midland Redevelopment Authority to complete the vision for Midland."
