CITY of Ballarat councillors voted during their regular meeting last week to advocate on behalf of residents pushing back against a new Powercor substation set to be built in Ballarat East.<\/p>\n
The land located at 203 York Street has been zoned as a utility site and owned by the power company since the early 1970s.<\/p>\n
The item saw two question time submissions and two presentations by residents who argued the site was no longer suitable due to its now-residential location.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has never been any question about the necessity of the power station,\u201d said presenter Jennifer Patterson. \u201cThe placement of it is the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Council received two petitions from residents containing nearly 200 signatures in objection to the substation.<\/p>\n
The municipality\u2019s director of development and growth Natalie Robertson said a land swap has been put forward to Powercor, who have yet to respond.<\/p>\n
Cr Daniel Moloney said it would be in Powercor\u2019s interests to work with the community toward resolution.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe by all means should advocate to government ministers and MPs but I\u2019m not even sure that would stand up in VCAT at the end of the day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was all put together in the 1970s, however while Powercor might come from that position\u2026 I\u2019m hoping they can also see the benefit of being a good community citizen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The motion was passed unanimously, with the exception of Crs Amy Johnson and Ben Taylor who were absent from the meeting.<\/p>\n
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Childcare stopped<\/strong><\/p>\n Councillors shut down a planning proposal to develop a new childcare facility at 315 Greenhalghs Road in Delacombe following backlash from residents.<\/p>\n With the site located on the corner of Benson Close, a cul-de-sac of nine properties with an older demographic, eight presenters argued the location was inappropriate.<\/p>\n Residents cited traffic inflow into the court would be a major disruption, with noise and privacy factors as well as environmental issues also raised.<\/p>\n The site was proposed to cater for 92 children with 17 staff and 20 carpark spots.<\/p>\n Cr Tracey Hargreaves brought forward an alternate motion to deny applicant Smart Planning and Design their proposal and agreed with residents\u2019 concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a clear case of business and commercial interest butting up against people\u2019s homes and quality of life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a small court. Large bodies of traffic don\u2019t flow well through courts as it is. If it\u2019s 92 children, and it takes one carer to drop off a child, we\u2019re now up to 180 people and 17 staff.\u201d<\/p>\n Cr Moloney urged residents to build a case should the matter be brought to VCAT.<\/p>\n The alternate motion passed with all except Cr Mark Harris in favour, who said the proposal was in line with municipal regulations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Heritage amendment<\/strong><\/p>\n Six properties were brought to council for consideration for heritage overlay as part of tweaks to the Ballarat Planning Scheme.<\/p>\n With two of the presented sites cause for debate amongst councillors, the item was split into two parts to allow the remainder of unobjected properties to go through to the next stage of submission.<\/p>\n Overlay for one of the sites, called \u201cBournedale\u201d and bought by a Selkirk descendant, was objected by the landholder as their heritage report differed to the one brought by council officers.<\/p>\n \u201c[The Selkirk] house is a reasonable compromise for the entire lot one which is the parcel of land that has the most significant aspect of heritage protection,\u201d Cr Des Hudson said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe compromise from being just finishing at the boundary of the house to extend to being the entire part of that allotment is fair and reasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n Cr Moloney argued the second objected property, 89 Magpie Street at Golden Point, which features the burnt down John Pearce House, isn\u2019t worth heritage overlay.<\/p>\n \u201cTo have officers continue to be bogged down on a site\u2026 that is not going to bring back a burnt down house is a bit of a poor use of our very limited resources,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The motion was carried with Crs Moloney, Hudson, Hargreaves, and Peter Eddy in favour.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 26 Jan divide<\/strong><\/p>\n Two councillors expressed disappointment at council\u2019s inability to move their January 26, or Australia Day, events to a different date.<\/p>\n Council were brought options around future community consultation in planning subsequent January 26 events, which would not impact the upcoming 2024 schedule.<\/p>\n Cr Belinda Coates spoke against the decision, and said it came too late to make a \u201ctiny step forward\u201d around the issue for the present.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is pretty embarrassing that if council wasn\u2019t able to take a leadership position\u2026 out of respect,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the spirit of reconciliation, it\u2019s quite difficult and disingenuous to put the First Nations community through another round of consultation.\u201d<\/p>\n The motion passed with Crs Harris and Coates voting against.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n