By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
GEELONG’s council has lost its battle with supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths over the design of Armstrong Creek’s town centre.
An independent planning panel has recommended a raft of changes to council’s plans for the 92-hectare centre, bounded by Surf Coast Hwy and Boundary, Barwarre and Burvilles Rds.
A report said the panel “shared the concerns” of the big retailers on capping the amount of the town centre’s retail floor space and on design guidelines that were “onerous and too prescriptive”.
The Independent revealed in November that the parties had assembled an array of planning, retail and engineering experts to argue over space caps, design guidelines and the level of developer contributions.
The panel report said new opportunities to plan for the town centre would be achieved “principally through two key tenants who will seek to gain a competitive advantage over the other”.
“With the recent introduction of the commercial zones, the way in which council has effectively prohibited uses that are as of-right in the zone sends an incorrect message about what the zones have been introduced to achieve. That is, more opportunity for development in commercial areas, a wider range of permitted uses, less prohibition and wider discretions.
“It would be a poor planning outcome if this amendment was endorsed in its current form as it goes against the grain of the recent State Government planning reform process.”
The panel also recommended reductions in developer contributions for a regional transit corridor, construction of an intersection at Boundary Rd and offsetting the cost of constructing a town square with a 10 per cent open space contribution.
A City Hall spokesperson said planning officers would assess and respond to the panel report and its recommendations in their own report to council.
