Save Serendip : did the umpire bend the rules?

After a hard fought sporting event how would you feel if you discovered you lost because the umpire bent the rules....during the game?

________

Lara Care Group (LCG) recently uncovered game-changing evidence that the removal of wildlife at Serendip was decided way back in 2019, before the public engagement in the You Yangs Precinct Master Plan (YYPMP) began. 

Did the umpire, Parks Victoria, bend the rules of public engagement?

There is now little doubt Parks Victoria (PV) was concerned the Lara community would be outraged if it knew PV intended to remove the display and breeding wildlife from Serendip. So rather than being honest about its intentions it appears that PV may have decided to hide the truth from the community.

As a result Serendip, as we knew it, is being destroyed and the Lara community is becoming angrier by the week as they discover the truth behind the clandestine removal of Serendip's wildlife.

Why hide the Business Case....for 4 years?

Since 2019 LCG has been asking PV to provide a copy of the Business Case that underlies the Master Plan. We were told by PV and Regional Development Victoria* that the Business Case was Confidential and we were not entitled to see it. 
*Regional Development Victoria funded the Master Plan.

In frustration we also asked Ella George, Lara’s MP, to request the Business Case. We don't know if she tried to get it.

LCG has found a "smoking gun"

Finally, after obtaining legal advice, in May this year LCG made a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to PV for a copy of the Business Case, prepared by consultants GHD*, and used as the basis for the Master Plan. As predicted by our legal advisor, the request was granted and the 244 page document was delivered to us in June.  We wish we'd had it back in 2019!
*GHD Advisory is the consultant that PV appointed to prepare the Business Case and the Master Plan.

It’s taken a long time to digest this huge document (we’re still working our way through it) but we’ve already uncovered what can only be called “smoking gun” evidence that Parks Victoria has been playing a childish game of hide and seek with the Lara Community ever since early in 2019 - 4 years!

You can view the Business Case here.

How Parks Victoria bent the rules of the game

We now know that the following incendiary statement appeared in the Business Case; it is the ONLY reference of its kind in the entire document.

“Based on directions from Parks Victoria, reconfigure the Sanctuary to become an open wildlife park. It is recommended that a zoologist is engaged and concept plan developed, to understand and deliver necessary fencing requirements for core wildlife areas only. Other excess fencing and enclosures shall be removed from the site. This includes captive breeding holding areas, tunnels, exhibits, aviary, existing hides and fencing.” (page 49 of the Business Case)

It is our belief that when Parks Vic engaged GHD they were directed to allow for the removal of the wildlife. That directive was probably agreed upon at the top level of Parks Victoria in late 2018 or in the early months of 2019. 

Importantly, this directive pre dated all public engagement.

In the Business Case, GHD states that Serendip's wildlife had the potential to provide significant ongoing economic benefits to the region. 

So why did GHD, a highly respected independent consultant, find it necessary to highlight that they were directed to recommend the removal of wildlife?

What should infuriate you is that it appears that Parks Vic went out of its way to hide its directive to GHD from you whilst pursuing your engagement in the Master Plan on an entirely false premise. 

Timeline explains how the umpire manipulated us

If you have any doubts about how this process bent the rules, view this timeline of events:

👉 TIMELINE OF A COVER-UP 💥

In all the documents mentioned in the timeline Parks Victoria NEVER clearly states that it will remove wildlife. In fact it recommends that:  

"a zoologist is engaged and concept plan developed, to understand and deliver necessary fencing requirements for core wildlife areas only"

This begs the question that core wildlife areas would be retained which led to more public confusion. This is exacerbated by the fact that all documents recommend that the: 

 "wildlife walk be enhanced and extended"

Yet, at the end of the process in February 2022, PV immediately began removing wildlife from Serendip and continued the removals until there is virtually no display or breeding wildlife at Serendip today.

Who were the umpires and who did they hurt?

There's little doubt that individuals at the very top level at Parks Victoria's head office in Melbourne hid the fact that they wanted to remove the display and breeding wildlife at Serendip Sanctuary.

This impacted on the community and local businesses. Some businesses have been so profoundly impacted that they have left having lost millions of dollars in investment. This loss has flowed on to lost employment opportunities.

How can we straighten the mess?

In any game, if the rules are adhered to the game goes well. The winners win and the losers lose.

In this pathetic, childish game those who bent the rules can easily unbend them and repair the hurt that the Lara community is feeling. 

Serendip could have its display wildlife back before the end of the year. 

Lara Care Group has already told PV how it can fix the mess. All that's required is for PV to collaborate with Zoos Victoria as has been done recently at Kyabram Fauna Park.  But PV must bring back the wildlife it's removed first if this is to be a successful outcome for the wildlife and the community.

And what makes this even easier is that this process is already suggested in the Master Plan but PV chose to jump the gun and kick out the wildlife before they spoke to the community about their intentions to do this.

Does the "umpire" need a rap over the knuckles?

A far less desirable option is that the community demands an independent public enquiry into the whole affair with associated compensation for those who have lost income or amenity as a result of PV bending the rules of the game.

________

Join Lara Care Group

Please click here: Join the Lara Care Group

Visit Lara Care Group's Facebook page

Visit Save Serendip Sanctuary Facebook page 

Help continue to put pressure on the State Government to stop wrecking Serendip.

____________________

NOTES on this Newsletter

• This is an ongoing series of updates about Serendip direct from the Lara Care Group. 
• We will publish these stories regularly and post them on social media. 
• To follow this blog go to: saveserendip.blogspot.com
• Your comments are welcome (be nice 😊please)