Petition for Coromandel public park dismissed

A petition calling on Baw Baw Shire to retain the Coromandel Arboretum in Warragul as a public park has been dismissed by council.

A petition signed by 390 people was submitted to council in July, urging council to accept a unique garden as public open space in a proposed residential subdivision.

Developers of a 251-lot residential subdivision in Warragul proposed to incorporate the existing Coromandel Arboretum in East West Rd as a botanical garden feature of their estate.

It was proposed the arboretum be transferred to council as a neighbourhood park, in lieu of the neighbourhood park planned for 194 Warragul-Korumburra Rd in the Warragul Precinct Structure Plan (PSP).

The proposed subdivision, refused by council, is now in the hands of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The petition requests council to instruct council officers to inform VCAT that council will “accept the Coromandel Arboretum as a public park in the Warragul PSP.”

But councillors supported officer advice not to take that position at VCAT.

The report to council said the subdivision application was refused by officers under delegation in October last year.

“It is worth noting that even if the issues relating to the neighbourhood park were set aside or resolved, other significant issues remain and the application must be determined in its entirety.

“The site characteristics and location of the arboretum were assessed in detail against council’s requirements for a neighbourhood park. The site was assessed not to meet the requirements, this formed one of the grounds of refusal,” officers said.

In a submission to council, Kerry Elliott said Cr Peter Kostos said circumstances had changed and the parcel of land was now in separate ownership.

He said he did not want to tell the owner what to do with their land.

“If we ever see an application for subdivision then it needs to come back to the council and discuss the cost of keeping it for the public.”

Cr Darren Wallace said the Warragul PSP (precinct structure plan) was clear in stating the parcel of land was not suited for a neighbourhood park, but was suited for an arboretum.

“The current owner can set this aside and establish it as an arboretum. This is a decision on the best available site for a neighbourhood park.

“This is a decision for the community, not council,” he said.

Cr Danny Goss said council had no plans to purchase the section of land.

“If the developer approaches council and wants to sell it for a fair and reasonable price, I might be open to that suggestion,” he said.

Cr Jazmin Tauru said the land was not for sale and until the developer approached council to buy it, it was not a council decision.

“I love those trees and want to see it thrive but I want to see what the owner wants to bring forward, whether that be to sell it ot even donate it to council,” she said.