The Victorian Greens have called the Arden precinct redevelopment a shemozzle after today's State Budget revealed two hospitals slated for the precinct had been ditched.
According to reports, the previously announced medical towers for the Royal Melbourne and Royal Women's hospitals will no longer be built due to electromagnetic interference from the nearby Metro Tunnel.
Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell, said the announcement followed a slate of bad decisions surrounding the redevelopment, including no mandated public housing or plans to build a high school.
She said it seemed Labor was setting up the precinct to be another property developer free-for-all, similar to the Docklands precinct.
As stated by Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell MP:
"Now that Labor has scrapped plans for a new Royal Women's and Royal Melbourne Hospital at Arden, the whole Arden plan seems like a shemozzle.
"With no mandated public housing, no hospitals, and no high school at Arden, what will actually be built there?
"I'm worried Labor is setting Arden up to be another property developer free-for-all, just like Docklands was.
"The new hospitals at Arden were one of the main reasons for the redevelopment, so it seems like a massive shemozzle that Labor now can't afford to build them there."
