COMMUNITY members and groups voiced their thoughts on the Cape Otway Road Australia (CORA) development to the Advisory Committee appointed by the Minister for Planning during the recent 10-day hearing.<\/p>\n
Reflecting the submissions sent during the development’s public exhibition stage, most community members who spoke at the hearing were opposed to the development of the proposed $350 million elite sport centre and tourist destination.<\/p>\n
Frequent topics raised before the panel were concerns about the impact to the local environment, the character of the township and road safety.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the hearing, Luke Keane described CORA as a “white elephant” and suggested the existing plans left plenty of scope for the developers to alter the project’s nature and use some of the land for subdivision.<\/p>\n
He said all the questions the Surf Coast Shire council had raised before and during the hearing meant he was “not sure why they endorsed it in the first place”.<\/p>\n
Some local groups expressed support for CORA. Both Winchelsea Football Netball Club and Modewarre Cricket Club provided submissions supporting the development.<\/p>\n
Modewarre resident Heather McFarlane criticised several aspects of the development. She suggested the effect on local environment would be permanent.<\/p>\n
“Once you turn the sod of soil, then there is damage,” she said.<\/p>\n
She also said the sound from the development would be “disturbing to all the residents”.<\/p>\n
In CORA’s concluding statement, representative Emily Porter said Ms McFarlane’s statements contradicted the information they had received from professionals.<\/p>\n
“Ms McFarlane’s submission was deeply cynical and, we think, unfair in the characterisation of the CORA proposal.”<\/p>\n
Robert Bullen expressed concerns over the risks the added traffic would bring.<\/p>\n
“Cape Otway Road and its intersections with arterial roads are already stressed and dangerous,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The government also acknowledges this with the Black Spot program sign on the entry into Modewarre on Cape Otway Road.”<\/p>\n
He said the large influx of tourists CORA was expected to bring meant infrastructure would have to be drastically improved.<\/p>\n
The Houlihan family, whose house on Connies Lane would see them surrounded by the development, also spoke against the proposal.<\/p>\n
Lance Houlihan said given the toll CORA had already had on him and other Connies Lane residents, he felt the conclusions of the Social Impact Assessment CORA ran were untrue.<\/p>\n
“I disagree that the impact to me, the Connies Lane residents and the broader community would be reasonable.”<\/p>\n
CORA’s concluding submission stated they would remove references to Connies Lane being used as an emergency access road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
COMMUNITY members and groups voiced their thoughts on the Cape Otway Road Australia (CORA) development to the Advisory Committee appointed by the Minister for Planning during the recent 10-day hearing. Reflecting the submissions sent during the development’s public exhibition stage, most community members who spoke at the hearing were opposed to the development of the […]<\/p>\n