FORMER Geelong Cats footballer Cameron Ling says Oakdene Estate\u2019s developers can replicate the estate\u2019s quality on the west side of Grubb Road, but the Ocean Grove Community Association wants the boundaries in the draft Bellarine Statement of Planning Policy (SPP) to stay where they are.<\/p>\n
The SPP – the next stage of the Bellarine Distinctive Area and Landscape program – proposes settlement boundaries for all of the Bellarine Peninsula\u2019s towns.<\/p>\n
Ocean Grove has an area labelled for growth to the east of Grubb Road and south of the Bellarine Highway but not to the west of Grubb Road and north of Ocean Grove Nature Reserve, where Morgan & Griffin hope to build the Oakdene West estate.<\/p>\n
Mr Ling, who has been an ambassador for Oakdene Estate for five years, said he supports \u201cthe right development, good development, and quality development\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Oakdene personally has shown that on what they\u2019ve done on the existing development – the space, the parkland, the sporting ovals, the way that it\u2019s designed where it\u2019s not just about getting the most amount of houses in and just cramming them all in together – and I\u2019d back them in that that\u2019s what they\u2019d be doing on the other side of the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Ocean Grove was a \u201cmagnificent part of the world\u201d and he understood its appeal to homebuyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids have grown up in Ocean Grove and they\u2019ve loved it, they\u2019ve got great friends there, they\u2019ve surfed there, they\u2019ve rode their bikes; it was this beautiful coastal community.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that they\u2019re parents themselves, they want to bring up their families in the town that they love.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, because it\u2019s such a beautiful spot, prices have skyrocketed from when they were kids 25 years ago, so the affordability to allow these now-parents to stay in the town they love and be part of really good quality developments like what Oakdene have done and are planning to do – without these really well-done developments, prices just become prohibitive for so many people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ocean Grove Community Association chair Phil Edwards said the draft SPP reflected exactly what the association\u2019s \u201cEnough is Enough\u201d campaign hoped to achieve, which was \u201cto restrict Ocean Grove boundaries to their current location and prevent further urban sprawl into the surrounding rural countryside\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe association is aware that developers and landowners to the north and west of the Ocean Grove Nature Reserve, east of Banks Road and north up to the Bellarine Highway, have put forward proposals for further development despite the City of Greater Geelong\u2019s Settlement Strategy putting these areas clearly outside our town\u2019s settlement boundary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe association continues to strongly oppose the developers\u2019 positions.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the association supported the proposal for the bulk of Ocean Grove\u2019s population growth being in the Kingston Estate, which he said had more than 10 years\u2019 worth of greenfield development land still available.<\/p>\n
To read the draft SPP or make a submission, head to the Engage Victoria website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FORMER Geelong Cats footballer Cameron Ling says Oakdene Estate\u2019s developers can replicate the estate\u2019s quality on the west side of Grubb Road, but the Ocean Grove Community Association wants the boundaries in the draft Bellarine Statement of Planning Policy (SPP) to stay where they are. The SPP – the next stage of the Bellarine Distinctive […]<\/p>\n