[Greens-Media] (Sue Pennicuik VIC MLC) Message to Village - Hands off our Zoo

[Amanda.Sharp at parliament.vic.gov.au]

7 April 2008

Message to Village - Hands off our Zoo

Greens MP, Sue Pennicuik today called on Village Roadshow to abandon plans
to install a theme park at Werribee Open Range Zoo.

"Unfortunately this just looks like another case of a wealthy corporation
eyeing off public land for its own use. Village Roadshow is a wealthy
multinational. If Village want to build a theme park in Victoria let them
buy their own land and develop their theme park separately. Zoos Victoria
do an excellent job of running Victoria's three zoological parks at
Werribee, Parkville & Healesville," she said.

Responding to Tourism Minister Holding's reported comments on the proposal,
she went on to say that "I am glad to see that Minister Holding remembered
to mention the need for planning approvals at the same time as he was
expressing enthusiastic support for the Village theme park."

"What I might have hoped he would say is that while a theme park could well
be a positive development for Victoria it has no place being grafted on to
a working zoo with a strong emphasis on animal welfare, endangered species
preservation and scientific research. Such a merger of interests would
certainly undermine much of what the Werribee Zoo represents and the
professionalism of Zoos Victoria," she said.

"The Werribee site and apparently much of the adjacent area is crown land
and this raises a number of concerns about appropriate land use,
conservation values and the conflicts that often arise when private or
sectional interests are given special concessions."

"A parliamentary committee is currently inquiring into the alienation and
development of crown land by private interests and lets just say its not
always appropriate or in the public interest and is causing great public
concern."


Further information:  Sue Pennicuik    0407 000 270





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