THE Victorian Greens have taken an interest in the CORA (Cape Otway Road Australia) project, with leader Samantha Ratnam calling for more detail and transparency on the $350 million proposal.<\/p>\n
Ms Ratnam, who also holds the planning portfolio with the Greens, visited the Surf Coast earlier this month and discussed CORA with people opposed to the 240-hectare sports training, accommodation, arts and tourism facility to be built on Cape Otway Road near Lake Modewarre.<\/p>\n
In early February, CORA announced it had lodged its business case with the state government and was to lodge its planning application with the Surf Coast Shire within the week (with the expectation the application would be called in by the state government), but Ms Ratnam said the application should be more open for local comment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels very opaque and it needs more clarity \u2013 I think the community needs to feel like there\u2019s assurance that they\u2019ll have a say in it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere might be people with different views about what they want who actually want to know what\u2019s going on, to have a meaningful say in it and to influence the outcome for a better outcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s a good principle for the planning process that often gets undermined when you get some of these big projects that people just sort of barrel through and they go \u2018oh, we won\u2019t worry about consultation\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she also heard concerns about the order in which the various elements of CORA would be built.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe residents said \u2018we could just get these houses, and get nothing else\u2019; none of the other parts of the proposal that the developer says will be good for the community \u2013 the public parks, the accessways might not happen \u2013 so the staging\u2019s really important. Should the sports facility come first, before the residential?\u201d<\/p>\n
Following CORA\u2019s initial reveal in November, the facility\u2019s proponents held two public meetings to promote its merits and answer questions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project has to belong to the community, it has to represent this region and this is not lip service \u2013 if this community doesn\u2019t want it, it doesn\u2019t happen,\u201d Daryl Pelchen said in December.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE Victorian Greens have taken an interest in the CORA (Cape Otway Road Australia) project, with leader Samantha Ratnam calling for more detail and transparency on the $350 million proposal. Ms Ratnam, who also holds the planning portfolio with the Greens, visited the Surf Coast earlier this month and discussed CORA with people opposed to […]<\/p>\n