Lobby group bid to lock up creek

Alex de Vos
Authorities should lock up Spring Creek from development forever, according to a community lobby group.
Speak Up for Spring Creek’s submission to an independent panel investigating plans for the growth of Torquay and Jan Juc has instead urged authorities to look north for new housing land.
Group spokesperson David Bell said he was furious Surf Coast Shire had lodged a submission supporting eventual development of Spring Creek.
The panel will review the submissions for a recommendation to council about whether to seek a planning scheme amendment to open areas around Torquay and Jan Juc for development.
The Independent revealed last month the shire had lodged a submission saying the structure plan would accommodate residential growth at Spring Creek “at the appropriate time” after development of new framework plans.
The submission followed councillors’ voting earlier this year to dump their initial framework for widespread development of Spring Creek.
Speak Up For Spring Creek has demanded council remove “all references to the potential for urban development in the Spring Creek Valley” from planning documents.
In the group’s submission, Mr Bell likened the shire’s bid to eventually develop Spring Creek to the plight of indigenous Australians after settlement.
“To me it’s starting to feel like a modern declaration of Terra Nullius,” he said.
“The takeovers have been dressed up. No longer are the original inhabitants driven out by an invader, they are squeezed out by the processes that must be followed, documents that must be exhibited, reports produced, studies carried out.”
Mr Bell accused the shire of hiding behind a 1980 plan for development of Torquay and Jan Juc, which earmarked Spring Creek Valley for urban growth.
“What we’re asking is that the shire remove any notion that might lead to development in the valley,” Mr Bell said.
“Wipe the slate clean and allow council’s Torquay 2040 (plan) proceed unencumbered by relics of the past.”
Mr Bell suggested the shire should look to Torquay North as an alternative to Spring Creek.