Project D-Day looming
Clarification sought on $350m CORA sports facility
THE proponents of a $350 million elite sports training facility at Modewarre have been given five weeks to clarify the scope of the project before the State Government decides if the proposal will be shown to the public.
Following community concern that sensitive environmental land will be destroyed during construction of the Cape Otway Road Australia (CORA) project, architect Daryl Pelchen said about half the 240ha lot would be dedicated to conservation.
“The proponents have come to the site a number of times and enjoy the natural setting,” Mr Pelchen said. “We are trying to promote the environmental aspect of this and undo any concern that it has a residential component.”
Mr Pelchen said the documents to be submitted to the State Government will show greater community use for the site and an absence of residential lots.
“For this (project) to work it has to support the region’s interest, it has to be design (not developer) led and provide a social benefit,” he said.
Under the proposal a highperformance sports training facility would be built on land off Cape Otway Rd featuring a sports science hub, sports fields, a 128-room hotel, 37 eco lodges, a wellness centre, a retail village, an art gallery, sculpture park, childcare centre, microbrewery and a sewage treatment plant.
Mr Pelchen said that if approved the project would encourage more overnight stays in the region and promote the area to the world on “almost a daily basis” as a training base for some of the world’s most powerful sporting clubs.
Local and international sporting clubs have been canvassed to gauge interest in training at the site but none are yet to make their intentions public.
Proponents behind the project, which include global media agency Mediacom Sport and Entertainment, have until September 13 to provide the Government with more information on the project as they seek to have 240ha of land rezoned from a conservation to a comprehensive development zone.
Mr Pelchen said: “(The proposal) is not going to change fundamentally but it can get better following a whole number of varying views and we are in the process of that.”
An initial assessment of the project completed by a planning committee appointed by the State Government to judge the suitability of the project found: “The proposal is for several different uses and it is unclear what the overall vision for the site is in terms of uses and priorities of uses.”
The report also found: “The project is worthy of being rigorously tested through a public exhibition and hearing process.”
G21 CEO Elaine Carbines said: “CORA would be the only such facility in the southern hemisphere and G21 has no doubt that it would bring enormous economic, social and environmental benefits for our region.”