Council and tribunal gazump servos plans

Hamish Heard
The state’s planning tribunal has ruined a Geelong petroleum company’s controversial plans for a bypass service station, fuelling jubilation among nearby residents.
The bypass will be without service stations after Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal blocked the APCO project at Lovely Banks and Geelong’ council trumped petroleum giant BP’s bid for two more.
Lovely Banks residents were yesterday breathing a sigh of relief after VCAT upheld a council decision rejecting the APCO proposal.
The decision followed VCAT earlier this year paving the way for two BP service stations at Lovely Banks when it overruled a unanimous council vote rejecting the proposal.
But Lara councillor Tony Ansett said the BP bid relied on council selling the company land between the bypass route and the two sites earmarked for the proposal
“There’s no way council will ever sell that land, so come hell or high water there will be no service stations built on the bypass,” Cr Ansett said.
The APCO decision and council’s resolution not to sell BP land for its two sites signalled a “massive victory” for residents who had fought the proposals for years, he said.
“You had this beautiful rural setting on one side of the bypass route and a builtup residential area on the other and all of a sudden residents were going to have to put up with trucks engine braking and going through the gears 24hours a day.
“I just wasn’t going to stand for it.”
Cr Ansett said the service stations would have hindered traffic flow and generated light, air and noise pollution affecting nearby residents.
Lovely Banks resident Chris Mitsarakis heaped praise on Cr Ansett who he said had fought the petrol companies “tooth and nail”.
“When the head of APCO said to us ‘We’ve never lost in VCAT’ it was a bit demoralising but this decision gives us faith in the whole process and shows the local council has a voice and will stand up and fight for residents,” Mr Mitsarakis said.