BRIDGE ACROSS THE BAY
Moolap to Avalon connection part of long-term blueprint for our fast-growing region
A VISION for a 4.8km bridge or tunnel crossing Corio Bay from Moolap to Avalon is part of a State Government blueprint for the future of Point Henry.
A VISION for a bridge or tunnel to one day cross Corio Bay from Point Henry to Avalon is being kept alive by the State Government.
A new Point Henry plan says future planning and development should not exclude the possibility of a transport connection across the 4.8km stretch.
The potential for a bay crossing echoes VicRoads’ “Proposed 2040 Road Network Development”, a map of possible transport planning solutions leaked in 2010, and an earlier 1996 plan outlined in a major Geelong roads study.
The option is kept alive in the Government’s recently released long-term blueprint for Point Henry that envisages a premium residential community of about 2000 people with first-class tourism and waterbased attractions housed on the tip of the peninsula.
“There is a strategic longterm possibility for a future northern access across Corio Bay as an eastern alternative route to Avalon and Melbourne,” the plan says.
“Future planning and development should not exclude the long-term strategic opportunities for this connection, which may not align with the current route of Point Henry Rd.”
The “Moolap plan” is now being considered by Alcoa, which is responsible for reclamation of the site on which it operated a smelter for more than 50 years until its closure in 2014.
Alcoa said it had completed about 90 per cent of the physical decommissioning of its industrial site, with remaining works expected to be completed by the middle of next year.
About 75 per cent of the site’s environmental site assessment is complete and has been submitted to EPA Victoria.
Alcoa’s Point Henry site asset manager Warren Sharp said the site assessments had not identified any unacceptable risks to human health or the environment and that the remaining environmental assessment was due for submission to the EPA in October.
The Moolap plan covers four precincts, including a residential area accommodating up to 10,000 people in the “Moolap East Precinct”.
That development must wait until the Dow Chemical plant is gone and the land is reclaimed, although Dow has since insisted it harbours no plans to leave.
Because of the clouded timing issues, the plan’s implementation strategy says separate precinct structure plans may be needed for the two residential areas.
Alcoa, which has its own master plan for the 575ha it owns in the area, is reviewing the proposed implementation strategy.
Mr Sharp said the four precincts were strongly interconnected and therefore an integrated planning approach should be adopted across the entire study area.
“This will help ensure key aspects of the Moolap plan, such as infrastructure, community facilities and commercial viability, are considered holistically and therefore planned accordingly,” Mr Sharp said.
Geelong Mayor Bruce Harwood said the Moolap plan, which championed the area’s wetlands and bird habitats, had found a middle ground among competing economic, social and environmental issues.
“My initial interest is in the environmental factors and making sure all of the regulations and guidelines are adhered to in the reclamation and clean-up of the site,” Cr Harwood said.
“That should be the first priority.
“Ultimately, we hope to see this site become a landmark development that all sectors of our community can engage in.”