With Brunswick’s finest, Shane Maloney, in the chair it was standing room only in a sweltering Brunswick community hall last night where 10 candidates slugged it out over planning.

Record population growth and the Brumby Government’s decision to embrace intense development along transport corridors has arguably hit Brunswick and the City of Moreland harder than anywhere else in Melbourne.

Combine that with rapid de-industrialisation of this former manufacturing heartland in Melbourne’s inner north and you have a toxic mix for the ALP, which was on full display last night.

Phil Cleary is attempting to relive past glories and get up for a second time as an independent MP, although the factory workers, who embraced his anti-tariffs agenda after Bob Hawke retired from the seat of Wills in 1992, have long moved out.

These days the debate is all about what sort of intense development goes on former factory sites.

Look no further than the 10-year saga of the old Tip Top factory in Brunswick, where rich lister and Toll Holdings CEO Paul Little is pushing ahead with a $100 million six-tower apartment development.

The voting records of various inner-city councillors were given a thorough going over last night. Labor candidate Jane Garrett was happy to pledge her support for fixed height controls and slammed Moreland council for approving the 14-storey $50 million Citimark apartment development on Albert Street under delegation without any reference to councillors.

On several occasions Garrett pointed out that DLP candidate John Kavanagh was a Moreland councillor and that Greens councillor Jo Connellan holds the planning portfolio at Moreland.

Kavanagh himself, the brother of upper house DLP MP Peter Kavanagh, gave Cleary an enormous serve at Moreland Council on Wednesday for claiming that planning is out of control but never objecting to any developments or turning up to any council meetings over the past six years.

As the candidates melted into the darkness after 8.30pm, there were some more sharp words between Cleary and Kavanagh.

Garrett is a former mayor of the neighbouring City of Yarra and was even haunted by some southern interlopers upset about the 9- and 11-storey twin towers development on the old Honeywell site in Richmond.

On this she performed well, fingering two prominent Greens, upper house member Greg Barber and Richmond candidate Kathleen Maltzahnt, as having supported the long-term structure plan for more intense development of this old paint factory while serving as Yarra councillors.

Cyndi Dawes, the Greens candidate in Brunswick, had the relative luxury of no planning record to defend, so she was able to win the biggest cheers of the night calling for more community input and tougher controls on what is already one of the most intensely populated municipalities in Australia.

With anti-development veterans such as Mary Drost and Julianne Bell making the trip across town for the fireworks, Maloney had to use all of his charm to keep the shouting to a minimum and let everyone be heard.

As surprised Labor campaign workers observed that “the inner city is exploding”,  Garrett retired to Bar Etiquette on Sydney Road for a couple of vodkas with her youthful team.

Garrett has impressed many and given the campaign her all, but if last night was any indication, the community is fed up and Brunswick will go decisively Green on November 27.

The only smokey in the pack is Cleary, who has publicly stated that he’ll be preferencing the Greens but doesn’t appear to be sure he’s made the right call.

If the Greenslide is really on, Labor will finish second on the primaries. The Liberals are running so dead their candidate failed to show up last night, so if Cleary beats the Liberals and picks up their preferences, we could have a situation where Labor drops to third place and determines the outcome between Cleary and the Greens. Would Labor preference Cleary ahead of the Greens? Presumably only if Cleary was returning the favour. Decisions, decisions!

Cleary’s boss at the ETU, Dean Mighell, has returned to the Labor fold this election and the feisty football coach seemed quite comfortable sitting next to Garrett last night.

Jumping back into bed with the ALP wouldn’t help Cleary’s primary vote, given his earlier fierce anti-Labor rhetoric, but it’s the only thing that could save Garrett.

*Stephen Mayne is running as an independent candidate in the Northern Metropolitan upper house region, which comprises 11 lower house seats, including Brunswick. He spoke for the final minute of last night’s forum.