EPIC not joined - VCAT hearing day 4

EPIC’s second bid to join the hearing proved unsuccessful on the fourth day of the Castlemaine pokies VCAT hearing in Melbourne on Thursday.

Ron Merkel QC, for EPIC, made a valiant push for the joinder during his submission to the hearing.

The joinder would have allowed EPIC to cross-examine witnesses and would have effectively given the community group the right to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court if it happens to go against them at VCAT.

Mr Merkel also forecast he would be pushing for answers from Maryborough Highland Society (MHS) on  four points he raised during his submission.

Basically these points were:

·         How much money has to be spent in Castlemaine to pay off the MHS debt?

·         Have the MHS directors been acting unlawfully and in breach of their duty by not formally notifying MHS members of their intention to mortgage the Maryborough premises and borrow millions of dollars to finance the Castlemaine club?

·         How much has the `Kyneton (bowls club) experiment' lost since MHS took it over?

·         VicTrack needs to agree to lease the old railway goods shed building in Castlemaine to The Club, which will be running the operation, not MHS. When will this happen?

MHS barrister Peter Caillard responded that on the matter of joining EPIC to the hearing that he believed that Mount Alexander Shire Council was the appropriate entity at the hearing and that EPIC would not be able to bring anything to the hearing that council couldn’t do.

He cited a great deal of legal argument in a bid to persuade VCAT Deputy President Mark Dwyer to not allow EPIC to be joined to the hearing.

Mr Caillard said the allegations of MHS directors being unlawful and in breach of duty were very serious ones and that he would not respond to them at the hearing, except to say that he thought an injunction by someone else may have been the appropriate remedy.

He said MHS general manager Malcolm Blandthorn would be back in the witness box on Friday and would be able to answer Mr Merkel’s financial questions, including the situation at Kyneton.

At the end of the session, Deputy President Dwyer ruled that EPIC would not be joined to the hearing.

“It (joining a party to the hearing) is a serious matter and is not something that should be done lightly,” he said. “I am not persuaded that EPIC should be joined.”

Earlier in the day, Mount Alexander Shire councillor Tracey Cross was summonsed to appear at the hearing. A full report of Cr Cross’ evidence will be in the final roundup tomorrow.

Finally, it was revealed that December 3 was the likely date for the hearing to recommence but that will be confirmed on Friday.

The hearing continues.