By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
A PLANNING review could give Leopold public access to Corio Bay.
But Leopold Tourism and Leisure Park proponent Denis More said council’s decision to review the town’s structure plan would only waste more time on opening up the suburb to the bay.
Mr More has battled City Hall for almost a decade to have his land north of Portarlington Rd included in structure plan.
The long-running saga began when he built a harbour without a permit and was forced to fill in much of the site.
Council earlier this year asked for a report on possible land uses for the area other than urban development, including access to Corio Bay.
A report to council this week said a “more comprehensive review” was needed to “properly address the issue”.
City Hall received 481 submissions on the land-use review, the report said.
New rural zones provided “some flexibility” on land uses, the report noted.
Leopold’s strong growth supported a “large-scale review” of the area north of Portarlington Rd, the report said.
Mr More has promoted his proposed tourism facility as including foreshore parks, barbecue facilities, an inland harbour, walking and cycling paths, camping and caravan services, boating facilities and waterfront holiday accommodation.
But he had “genuine concerns” the new review could “set us back four or five years”.
“It appears to be another structure plan in the making and that takes time. It hasn’t been allocated funding and there’s no timeframe indicated.
“It may well be do-nothing option. We spent 18 months on the last report and this doesn’t advance things.
“I might be wrong – I hope I’m wrong.”
