Push for minister to call in Hotel Indigo application

COMMUNITY opposition to the Hotel Indigo proposal in Torquay is continuing, with the latest effort urging the Surf Coast Shire council to get Victorian Planning Minister Richard Wynne to intervene.

However, the council says its hands are tied.

Barnes Capital revealed its plan to build a five-storey, 128-room hotel at 2-4 Geelong Road and 48 Bell Street in December 2018.

The planning application met with immediate community backlash and 133 objections during the public exhibition process.

The council refused the application in May 2019, and Barnes Capital appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in July 2019 to override the council’s decision.

A five-day hearing on the matter is scheduled to start at VCAT on February 28, but community group Greater Torquay Alliance (GTA) wants Mr Wynne to call in the planning application before the hearing begins.

A post on the GTA Facebook page states “two excellent sources” say Mr Wynne would consider calling the matter in if the council asks him to, and if the amended building plans had been submitted to respondent objectors (which took place on December 20).

“To our knowledge the Surf Coast Shire has not asked the minister to call it in, so what is needed is for the mayor (Rose Hodge) to write to him and ask him to do that.”

The shire’s general manager of environment and development Ransce Salan said the council was unable to formally request Mr Wynne call in the application “as our role has now concluded based on Council’s decision in May 2019 to refuse the application”.

“The Minister, however, has the ability to call in the application, under certain circumstances.

“We have written to the Planning Minister and recommended that given the scale and nature of this proposal, it is appropriate to consult with the Great Ocean Road Standing Advisory Committee regarding this application. We understand our recommendation is being considered by the Minister.”

The Planning Minister has the power to call in VCAT appeals where the minister considers that “the proceeding raises a major issue of policy” and “the determination of the proceeding may have a substantial effect on the achievement or development of planning objectives”.