NEW COAST BURB ROW
Showdown looms as developers unveil $252m plan for 270 houses and retirement village
THE age-old battle over Barwon Heads’ town boundaries is set to resume after developers revealed their $252 million plans for an expansion featuring hundreds of new homes, a retirement village and aged care centre.
THE fight to expand Barwon Heads centres on a $252 million plan featuring hundreds of new homes, a retirement village, aged care centre and new recreational facilities.
The age-old battle over town boundaries will resume next month, with developers arguing that the town should not be exempt from planned growth.
An independent panel will consider expanding the urban zone as part of an updated structure plan, which will guide development in Barwon Heads until 2032.
A relaxation of the boundary to the west would pave the way for a major development by Macafee Investments and Barwon Heads Lifestyle Group.
It would feature 270 houses, a 110-dwelling retirement facility, an aged care centre, medical centre and a second sports oval and pavilion.
There would also be new cycling and walking paths linking to town and the primary school, a section of the proposed “round the Heads” trail and a park-andride service.
It is proposed 20ha of the site would be set aside for open space.
The site borders Barwon Heads Rd, the 150-lot Seabank Estate and the Murtnaghurt Lagoon.
Landowner Richard Macafee lost a narrow council vote in 2007 to rezone about half of his 49.5ha holding for residential development.
Despite multiple offers to sell, Mr Macafee has held on to the family property.
He now hopes a joint plan with prominent businessman Stewart Gull will have more success.
Mr Gull runs Country Club Villages, which has eight retirement complexes across the country, including Bellarine Lakes in Moolap.
“We think that what is proposed has net benefits for the community,” Mr Gull said.
There would be more than 100 construction jobs, before 120 full-time jobs were required for the aged care complex.
A directions hearing for the draft structure plan will be held next week, with an independent panel set to consider the blueprint from late August.
Mr Macafee said they would argue that Barwon Heads should not be exempt from the same progress that is being pursued across the rest of the region.
“We certainly feel the town is being treated differently to the rest of the Bellarine,” he said.
“St Leonards, Portarlington, Indented Head and Point Lonsdale are not designated growth areas — the same as Barwon Heads is — but they’ve all got some land identified for residential growth.”
The council’s officers recommend resisting expansion to the west and focusing on higherdensity living within the existing urban zone.
The decision followed an influx of 940 public submissions, with all but 12 supporting the retention of the town boundary.
The density policy, which would allow three-storey buildings to rise to 11m high, also attracted criticism for threaten- ing the coastal village’s character.
Mr Gull said residents had to accept change was inevitable.
“There will be high rises all over Barwon Heads, so the perception that the town is never going to change is history,” he said.
“So (our project) gives people the option — you either go up or you go out slightly.”
The proponents have been frustrated by council officers’ reluctance to embrace a previous planning panel’s recommendation in 2010, which noted the benefits of their project.
“Council should consider the potential for limited residential development . . . as a means of achieving a net improvement to the environmental values of the Murtnaghurt Lagoon and channel,” the panel advised.
Mr Macafee said the panel’s acceptance the land was capable of hosting housing and that much of the criticism was “illconsidered” was not acknowledged in the latest draft.
“There’s a fair bit . . . to suggest that by now, there should have been some movement on the property,” he said.
“We’re disappointed this time around that that seems to have been totally ignored.”
“There will be high rises all over Barwon Heads, so the perception that the town is never going to change is history. BUSINESSMAN STEWART GULL