By NOEL MURPHY
DRAMATICALLY reduced plans for a caravan park near Torquay are set to be rejected ahead a tribunal hearing next month.
Surf Coast council has previously rejected the $105 million “eco park” for a site off Coombes and Ghazeepore Rds and officers are recommending that councillors knock it back again when a reduced proposal goes before their meeting next week.
BCR Asset Management has reduced the plan’s cabins from 500 to 250 and caravan sites from 200 to 160 while increasing landscaping around the project in a bid to clear an anticipated appeal to Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
The revision also removes a skate and BMX park, a tennis court and a lawn bowling green, while curbing a basketball court to a half-court.
A report to next Tuesday’s meeting argues against the park on multiple grounds.
“While the reduced size of the proposed development is welcomed, it is still considered that the scale within the non-urban landscape break of the Thompson Valley is inappropriate,” the report states.
“Even at the reduced scale the development will still exceed the projected accommodation requirements identified in the Great Ocean Road Destination Management Plan and will concentrate the impacts of tourism growth into one area rather than spreading them across the wider region.”
The officer-suggested recommendation cites:
. The scale and intensity of the proposal as contrary to the rural setting of the Thompson Valley and the transition environment of the Low Density Residential-zoned land to the south-east;
. The scale and intensity of the proposal as incompatible with role of the Thompson Valley as a buffer on urban development;
. The proposed land use substantially exceeding projected accommodation requirements identified in a Great Ocean Road Destination Management Plan, concentrating the impacts of tourism growth into one area rather than spreading them across the wider region;
. Insufficient information about the operational structure, accommodation standard, nature of community facilities, permanency of residents, and potential lease arrangements.
BCR Asset Management has booked a VCAT hearing for 8 to 16 December.
The Independent was unable to contact BCR Asset Management for comment.
