No-go for four-storey Pako plan

A FOUR-STOREY commercial building for Geelong West’s Pakington Street has been knocked back by planning officers as the City of Greater Geelong continues work on a long-term planning framework for the precinct.

The city refused the application for the planned development at 84 Pakington Street in a decision handed down on March 17.

The proposal failed to meet planning policies including the Pakington Street North Urban Design Framework (UDF) and relating to car parking provisions for the busy stretch in the ruling handed down earlier this month.

Planners used the future UDF, which is yet to be fully endorsed by councillors so it can become planning policy, to argue for the project in its planning submission lodged last year.

“The Pakington Street/Gordon Avenue Urban Design Framework sets the vision for the Pakington Street North precinct which promotes a future hub of sustainable shop-top living, with local shops, offices and communal spaces at lower levels and high-quality apartments above,” planning documents stated.

“The proposed mix of uses activates the ground floor with a hospitality use and provides tenancies which encourage a mix of compatible commercially based uses in accordance with the Urban Design Framework.”

The city is working on a third draft of the Pakington North Precinct plan that is due for another vote later this year.

The city first sought councillor support in late 2021 for the UDF, when the Gordon Avenue and heritage core precincts were greenlit, but told to further consult with community members on its plans for the north section.

A revised plan was rejected again in November last year, when councillors voted to directly include community campaigners in the plan’s development process.