Give us a break: Brydon King addresses the developers’ lunch meeting.
By Michelle Herbison
SURF COAST Shire will retain a “non-urban break” between Torquay and Armstrong Creek, according to a planner.
Shire planning and development manager Brydon King told a lunch meeting of developers last week that a green wedge between the two towns would be a “key council priority”.
Mr King’s comments came as developers prepared to expand both Armstrong Creek and Torquay with new residential developments.
The first residential development within Surf Coast Shire’s Torquay North precinct would deliver about 400 lots to the east of Horseshoe Bend Rd later this year, Mr King said.
State Government acquired land in this precinct in April to build a stand-alone secondary school on Surf Coast Hwy and a new primary school on South Beach Rd.
The Independent reported last week that Villawood Properties planned to house more than 8000 residents nearby on its Armstrong site at Mt Duneed.
Armstrong would include two hectares of wetlands and sculptures, a restaurant precinct, primary and high schools, sport facilities and a residents-only health club.
City of Greater Geelong’s Terry Demeo told the developers’ meeting that Armstrong Creek’s first operating development, Warralily, had sold 800 blocks.
Warralily director Mark Casey said last month that the project had spent $40 million on civil works for its first 16 stages since commencing work two years ago.
Sixty private homes were under construction alongside building of display houses and civil works for a further 506 allotments, he said.
Councils alliance group G21 released a draft regional growth plan in April identifying four “key settlement breaks” between Armstrong Creek and Torquay, Geelong and Leopold, north-east of Lara and to Geelong’s west.
The “environments between urban areas” were important for water supply, agriculture, recreation, tourism, vegetation and habitats as well as for reinforcing towns’ identities, the report said.
Plans for the corridor between Armstrong Creek and Torquay were “to ensure a strong farmed landscape character between these urban areas, encourage rural production and maintain town identities”.
Mr King told the meeting the shire also planned to redesign Torquay’s Surf City precinct with a focus on tourism and to re-establish Gilbert St as the town’s official centre.
