COUNCIL UNMOVED BY RESIDENTS’ OBJECTIONS

PLANNING applications come and go and most are not controversial.

I would like to direct your attention to one recently advertised that will, if approved, have a major impact on the amenity of the South Geelong area.

The application concerns the Big Shed site at 135 Fitzroy St. The proposal is for 40 new dwellings, including seven townhouses. Along with the application is a proposal to amend the parking requirements so the majority of the dwellings would have only one carpark.

In my view, determining the application in isolation from what is happening at the old Barwon Water maintenance depot at Carr St and also the development proposed for the South Geelong Railway precinct is a mistake.

The additional pressure on parking and traffic may have been vastly underestimated. I live in the neighbourhood and the pressure on the carpark at the station has increased enormously over the past 30 years.

When the application was first advertised, I and many of the neighbours affected were invited to make an application to object. I did this.

I’m bound to say I was less than impressed with the manner in which the objections were handled. As a consequence of this I and several of the neighbours have requested our councillors Murrihy and Mansfield “call in” the application so that it may be considered by the full council and not simply determined by the Planning Department.

When I contacted planning over this objection I felt I was actively dissuaded from making an objection. I was informed that I wasn’t affected by the application. I said, surely I was in a better position to decide if I was affected or not than some bureaucrat working for the city.

Since then I have struggled to get an answer from Mr Murrihy or Ms Mansfield over the status of our objections. We haven’t even been given an assurance about the calling in of the proposal.

I am writing this in the sincere hope I can make our councillors accountable.

Kevin V Russell, Geelong