Leaders give tick to Grove plans

Andrew Mathieson
FEARS that population growth will explode in Ocean Grove should be under control with a new plan to guide development of the town, according to community leaders.
City of Greater Geelong’s Ocean Grove structure plan has also flagged a strategy to improve traffic flow amid predictions Ocean Grove’s population will reach 20,000 by 2020.
Under the plan, residential growth will expand north as the town hits more than 10,000 homes.
The plan will convert Grubb Road into a dual-lane highway to divert traffic away from Ocean Grove’s centre.
An industrial estate east of Grubb Road will also expand under the plan.
Ocean Grove councillor Jan Farrell said the plan sought to protect areas of high environmental value, including the foreshore and estuary as well as open spaces and vegetation reserves.
“It also sets clear limits to the town’s growth by defining a settlement boundary in order to retain green spaces between Ocean Grove and neighbouring townships such as Point Lonsdale and Drysdale,” she said.
Ocean Grove and District Community Association president Michael Harbour said he was initially concerned the draft plan had overlooked the community’s fears of development along the coast.
“They’ve recognised that Ocean Grove is not a typical Melbourne or Geelong suburb and that its uniqueness is that it’s a coastal growth town.
“The boundaries they’re suggesting, that (the town) will grow to the north, are what we’ve always thought – we didn’t want it to grow on the coast.”
Ocean Grove Business Association president Paul Drake believed that the final plan had found the right mix
“One of the things that the City was good at doing was (making) a logical population point that should occur before that development took place,” he said.