By CHERIE DONNELLAN
BUILDING houses west of Duffields Rd would kill Torquay’s tourism trade, a formerly gagged councillor has told an independent panel hearing.
Torquay Ward councillor David Bell said failing to set Duffields Rd as the town’s western boundary would lead to further “suburbanising” that would deter tourists.
Cr Bell was addressing a planning panel hearing submissions on a proposed C66 planning scheme amendment preventing development west of Duffields Rd.
The hearing was his first opportunity to speak publicly on the future of the Spring Creek area since development proponent Christian College threatened in March to sue him and council if he discussed or voted on matters relating to the land.
The college alleged he was biased as a former leader of a Speak Up for Spring Creek group opposing development of the area.
Cr Bell said he addressed the panel on Wednesday as a “private citizen, not as a councillor”.
“A major threat to [Torquay’s] continued popularity is the possible degradation of the features that attract visitors to the area,” he told the panel.
Visitors wanted to leave their “concrete jungle” for “open spaces uncluttered by suburban development” when they travelled to Torquay, Mr Bell said.
He cited a 1980 Torquay-Jan Juc structure plan stating “the gullies of … Spring Creek … are important elements of the landscape … the area is attractive and must be used carefully”.
The document also said “small-acre subdivision to the west [of Duffields Rd] should not occur”, he told the panel.
Cr Bell said the “complex” Spring Creek issue had led to Victoria’s previous and incumbent planning ministers either overuling or threatening to overrule council decisions on the town boundary.
He raised developers’ advertisements in local newspapers and cinemas, “accusing the shire of failing in its duties to the community”.
The actions of the ministers and developers represented a “volatile mix of power, ego and money [that] drives the process as much as data, logic and sensibility”, Cr Bell told the panel.
