Shire finally consents to Point Grey plan

THE Surf Coast Shire council has finally given consent for its land at Point Grey in Lorne to be developed by the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCAPA).

The council had previously deferred making a decision twice before, but voted unanimously on October 7 to resume debate on the issue before their next scheduled meeting on October 26.

Progress on the proposed Point Grey development, which the council issued a planning permit for in June 2020, hit an unexpected roadblock when it was discovered that the shire, not GORCAPA, was the public land manager for two parcels of land comprising most of the car park area.

A subsequent challenge to the planning permit at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has since been paused as a result so GORCAPA could formally ask the shire to give consent so the project can continue to have planning approval.

The shire only narrowly voted to defer the issue on September 28 by five votes to four, and the final vote on October 7 to give consent and transfer the land to GORCAPA was only slightly more decisive, six votes to three.

Cr Gary Allen, who successfully pushed to hold last week’s meeting, said the delay caused by the deferral had given the Lorne community time to gain assurances and clarity around the consultation process on the development.

“The authority’s CEO, Jodie Sizer, has committed to meet with and listen to any individual or group of the Lorne community to hear their concerns on the precinct project. She will do this as early as next week if we wish her to.”

Cr Mike Bodsworth said he had reservations about the proposed design for Point Grey but he was happy to give consent to the administrative steps and allow GORCAPA to take full ownership of the project.

Councillors Paul Barker, Heather Wellington and Adrian Schonfelder voted against the motion.

“We’ve got a whole bunch of words being thrown around like hope, good faith, trust, and transparency, but if you look at the recommendation (in the meeting’s agenda) for exactly what it says, I’m not satisfied that we can trust the authority to follow though and make the commitments shown in the recommendation,” Cr Paul Barker said.