Retirement village added to Briory Drive West estate

THE Briody Drive West estate has been altered even further than originally proposed, with a retirement village and aged care facility to now be included.

Originally approved by the Surf Coast Shire in December 2017, the Development Plan for the estate – to the north-west of St Therese Catholic Primary School – featured two wetlands as drainage basins, on the east and west side.

Earlier this year, a landowner in the estate discovered the developer, Briody Drive Project Pty Ltd, was in talks with the Surf Coast Shire to amend the plans to remove the east wetland and replace it with an underground catchment to allow more houses to be built, but this amended Development Plan had not gone on public exhibition.

This has now occurred, with Briody Drive Project Pty Ltd lodging it with the shire’s planning department in late October.

The new Development Plan incorporate a retirement village with independent residential units, a residential aged care facility, and independent and assisted living apartments replaciing some of the general residential areas.

Areas of general residential subdivision with a mix of densities are also proposed.

The proposed wetland to the east has been reduced to a small strip of “unencumbered area” measuring 0.04 hectares, or 400 square metres.

In their town planning report prepared for Briody Drive Project Pty Ltd, town planners Tract stated the amended plan “responds to the needs of the existing and future community through the provision of zoned and serviced land for housing, recreation, open space and community infrastructure”.

“The development plan will encourage sustainable growth and orderly development of a designated growth node (Torquay) identified under regional policy, while also building on the capacity of existing infrastructure.”

The plan, Tract stated, will have housing to meet future needs, such as “residential aged care facilities to allow ageing residents of Torquay more opportunities to ‘age in place’ and affordable housing options for first home buyers in response to an established demand in Torquay and across the municipality”.

Tract acknowledged the shire had not received a planning application for a retirement village in the estate but argues “planning must seek to strike a balance between competing objectives”.

“In this instance, recognition that aged care facilities are appropriate in residential areas (no permit required for use) and that their built form will be of a scale and mass greater than a dwelling, against controls which seek a low-rise township.”

In an email to a landowner in the estate, shire principal strategic planner Samantha Nutt said the shire’s consideration of a Development Plan “does not involve a formal process of public consultation nor will it give third party appeal rights to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal”.

“Nevertheless, council is providing the local community with an opportunity to make a submission to council to enable a more informed decision to be made.”

She said directly affected parties such as landowners could appeal under section 149 of the Planning and Environment Act.

Submissions must be sent by 5pm on November 25.