Surf Coast CEO to talk town centre

THE future of Torquay’s town centre is a hot topic at the moment, and Surf Coast Shire chief executive officer Keith Baillie will address the subject at an event next week.

Mr Baillie is the guest speaker at Torquay Commerce and Tourism’s next business breakfast, and will talk about the changes proposed through the Torquay Town Centre project, as well as the documents the shire released in August for public consultation.

The project will be realised over the next 20 years, and has three stated aims:

• The Torquay Town Centre is the primary activity centre for the shire and must provide the services, facilities and employment needs of the growing population
• The beach and relaxed lifestyle experience offered by Torquay are critical assets both economically and socially that must be protected and maximised, and
• While tourism continues to be an important role for the town centre, its role as the “heart” of the Torquay community will be of the utmost importance.

The three draft documents are the Strategic Investment Facilitation Plan (SIFP), which lays out how to stimulate new development and drive job creation in the town centre, the Urban Design Framework, which addresses many of the SIFP’s recommendations; and a parking and access strategy.

Perhaps the most contentious proposals in the documents is the creation of five sites where buildings will be allowed to reach up to five storeys high.

The 3228 Residents Association has stated its opposition to the plan, saying five-storey buildings “do not fit with community expectations” and do not protect Torquay’s overarching coastal or surf character.

The UDF notes there are existing controls restricting building heights to no more than three storeys in central Torquay, which “does not align with the requirements for additional floorspace, and nor does it provide sufficient drivers for redevelopment of older building stock and at-grade car parks to the quality that should be expected in such an important town centre”.

For more information on the Torquay Town Centre project or to download the documents, head to surfcoastconversations.com.au/torquaytown-centre-project.