House bid in limbo

Andrew Mathieson
A Mount Duneed property could become a test case for land owners wanting to carve up rural blocks for residential development around Geelong’s Armstrong Creek growth area.
Geelong councillors have put on a backburner the property owners’ planning permit application to build a new four-bedroom house on part of their block after they sold a smaller section containing their previous home.
Councillors rejected Peter and Lyn Ashton’s plans despite the pair telling council they could not make a living farming their remaining 15-hectare parcel of land.
Ward councillor Andy Richards said he supported the couple because their land was on a slope and full of granite, making cropping and ploughing impossible.
The property is a couple of hundred metres outside Armstrong Creek’s proposed boundaries and close to highway traffic.
Cr Richards said council had a policy of refusing construction of homes on rural blocks or sub-dividing farming properties.
“But the area is changing markedly due to Armstrong Creek and the ring road, so putting a house on this block is not going to make a difference in the scheme of things,” he said.
“I’m not supportive of subdivision at this stage in the area outside Armstrong Creek but times are changing and council’s policy has to change.”
The Ashtons had two titles on the initial parcel of land but reduced the boundaries on the smaller block to sell their home.
Councillors argued their application was for sub-division by stealth.
Cr Stretch Kontelj feared that supporting the application would set a precedent of rezoning farms to rural-residential.
City Hall had been fielded calls from landowners in the Mount Duneed area wanting to apply for building permits, he said.
“It is an inappropriate way to orderly develop an area because we already have Armstrong Creek and the town boundaries have been settled,” he said.
“We should see what other future land uses we need in the area and deal with it that way.”