FORMER Wodonga councillor Tim Quilty has told parliament Baranduda Fields is being developed "many years ahead of schedule" to seemingly benefit developers.
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The past Liberal Democratic Party candidate for Indi also linked the approval of the Wodonga sporting complex to Nationals federal election contender Mark Byatt.
"Something is rotten in Wodonga," Mr Quilty, the member for Northern Victoria told the Legislative Council on Tuesday.
"Most of the area surrounding the proposed sporting ground is undeveloped farmland.
"The project has been started many years ahead of schedule and ahead of need, so I'm left wondering who benefits.
"Well I have an idea, the land surrounding the project is owned by property developers, developers who are supporting the campaign of former Wodonga mayor and now Nationals candidate Mark Byatt including significant financial contributions.
"If you don't know who Mark Byatt is, you can find his photo plastered across Wodonga on land owned by the same property developers.
"He's tied closely to Wodonga council's past misdeeds.
"The current mayor, by her own admission, has been lobbying long and hard for this project without telling councillors and without it being a Wodonga Council priority.
"This is Wodonga business as usual, benefits for the insiders.
"Baranduda Fields will be a great thing for Wodonga 15 years down the track when it is needed.
"However, building the complex now benefits property developers at the expense of ratepayers and taxpayers.
"Like so many things Wodonga Council touches this stinks."
Mr Byatt slammed Mr Quilty's comments when asked about the issue at Tuesday night's Border Mail Indi election forum.
"That's just rubbish quite frankly, that is just rubbish," Mr Byatt said.
"Baranduda Fields has been a long term plan for the City of Wodonga over at least three councils that I'm aware of.
"It's been something that we've strategically planned in a growth corridor, Leneva-Baranduda is a growth corridor for this city Leneva-Baranduda at some stage in the future will hold 20 to 30,000 people, so almost the population that we have in Wodonga now."
Fellow former Wodonga councillor and Labor candidate for Indi Eric Kerr said he supported the project but there was a "deeper picture about ratepayer contribution".
"I have had issues raised about what benefit to local developers it has versus local community at this stage," Mr Kerr said.
Wodonga mayor Anna Speedie rejected Mr Quilty's claims the project was not needed now, pointing to existing sporting grounds being at capacity.
"This project has been underway for 10 years and 10 years in the making," Cr Speedie said.
"It has been a priority for the council and it was discussed openly."
Cr Speedie said the campaign to receive funding had taken a long while "because of the nature of the greenfields site, to drag in services there".
She dismissed the claim that developers would benefit from those services, saying they would have to pay to make their own connections, and the area had long been deemed a growth corridor.
Cr Speedie said it would take 10 to 20 years before Baranduda Fields was fully developed and two years of work was needed ahead of any playing on the site.
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