City green light for Newcombe St apartment complex

The City of Greater Geelong has approved a multi-storey main street development at Portarlington that will be the largest project of its type at the Bellarine town.

The proposal had drawn opposition by residents who believed it was an “overdevelopment”, but councillors believed it was an appropriate scale as they considered the long-term need for more diverse accommodation options to cater for the town’s burgeoning tourism economy.

The city’s planning committee voted unanimously to grant a permit at 20-34 Newcombe Street and 25-27 Fenwick street at its most recent meeting.

The mixed-use proposal would build 59 apartments and seven shops across four properties spanning 4,717sqm.

It would create a five-storey building at Newcombe Street across three wings including the retail units, while the Fenwick Street side would have a four-storey building split in two wings.

Public exhibition of the plans attracted submissions from 44 supporters and 29 objectors.

Cr Bruce Harwood sided with a council recommendation to approve the project and said it represented an opportunity for Portarlington to capitalise on recent commercial interest.

“Portarlington has now become a substantial focus on the Bellarine and I think now is the time to look at what the next opportunity is for that township,” he said.

“Obviously the ferries have had a huge impact and will continue to do so if we’re able to progress the work that’s been done.”

“This particular development… is a suitable and proper location.”

Cr Trent Sullivan said he was “in two minds” on the proposal, but ultimately decided the benefits outweighed risks.

“There will be more people, more cars. It will be something that you cannot possibly miss.

“[However] we need short term accommodation to help support the wineries, the tourism industries, the economic boons that we’re actually so proud of in our region across the northern Bellarine. People can’t get to them without having short term accommodation.”

Cr Sullivan also referenced the challenges the city and Portarlington will face to accommodate its ongoing growth following the recently-passed Bellarine Distinctive Area and Landscape planning policy from the Victorian government, which locked in long-term town boundaries for the peninsula.

“We’re very happy that we’re not going further out in urban expansion. But when you stop going outwards, the trade-off is that you do have to put in mixed use higher development internally,” he said.