By Justin Flynn
The City of Greater Geelong has adopted an Urban Design Framework for Highton Village, but has backed down on allowing three- and four-storey developments.
Council voted to adopt the UDF at Tuesday night’s monthly meeting, but with some amendments following a spirited question time where members of the public voiced their concerns over several aspects of the plan.
The UDF aims to establish a series of actions to guide the future development of the popular location.
Concerns about the original UDF ranged from losing the village’s atmosphere, maximum building heights, less car parks, changes to the main roundabout and additional pedestrian crossings.
The UDF was endorsed with the following changes:
A maximum preferred building height of 9 metres on Belle Vue Avenue to protect the character of the Highton Village;
The roundabout on Belle Vue Avenue will be retained;
Access to the clocktower will be retained;
Access to the service road from Belle Vue Avenue and Barrabool Road will be retained; and
There will be no net loss of car parking, with no additional pedestrian crossings.
Highton’s Nardi’s Cellarbrations’ Simon Nardi presented questions to Council at the meeting and was concerned about building heights, car parking and access to the main park.
“People power has gotten the result the Highton community were after,” he said.
“I’m pretty happy with the outcome although still a bit unsure with the potential three- to four-storey building next to ours. That’s still proposed.
“All in all Cr (Ron) Nelson pretty much amended all the things that traders were asking for.”
More than 150 people attended a rally at Highton Village on Saturday October 22 to oppose the UDF.
Cr Nelson made the motion to amend the UDF with only mayor Peter Murrihy voting against the proposal.
Cr Nelson, said the UDF will retain the village feel of Highton while delivering more greenery, enhanced local shopping experiences, and improvements to safety, parking, and traffic.
“It is important that Council reflects the views of the community in its decision making and I am glad we have reached this outcome,” he said.
“Council has listened and taken on board the concerns and views of residents and this is an appropriate path forward.”
