New plans for rejected Lara land
A NEW app, described as the “Tinder for jobs” is set to launch in Geelong and the Surf Coast.
The “hi-er” mobile app matches users with jobs — full-time, parttime and casual — in which they would be interested based on their preferences.
Created by local entrepreneurs Stephanie Brebner, Candice Mooney and Skyler Gast, the app proposes to link jobseekers with the most relevant job openings in Greater Geelong and the Surf Coast. Ms Brebner said the idea for the app came from seeing her husband Dean spend hours searching for work using “inefficient” job boards.
“With the job market on the decline and as he juggled remote schooling for our two young children during lockdowns, Dean was frustrated at the amount of time required just to sort through pages and pages of irrelevant job openings,” she said.
“We thought, with all the digitalisation and technology advances in business, why hasn’t the way we find work kept up?”
The “fun and user-friendly” app is powered by an algorithm, instantly displaying jobs that match individual preferences and skill sets. Ms Brebner said hi-er made it easier for businesses to connect with suitable applicants.
“Businesses can reach applicants with suitable skill sets and interests immediately, reducing the time and cost of screening applicants that may be unsuitable for their needs,” she said.
The hi-er app launches in May, with free access for businesses in Greater Geelong and the Surf Coast during the pilot program. More information at hi-er.com
A DEVELOPER has unveiled plans for an 84-house residential development in Lara, just months after a bid to build 89 homes in the same spot was rejected and labelled an “overdevelopment”.
Oreana Property Management has lodged a planning permit application with the City of Greater Geelong to build the 84 dwellings on 21,950sq m of land in the Manzeene Village estate.
The new $10.3m development plans were lodged after Geelong council last year received 53 objections to the previous bid to build 89 homes on the property, prompting the planning committee to recommend the permit be refused.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in November rejected the permit, with senior member Margaret Baird finding the housing intensity “too great, resulting in multiple unacceptable design and layout compromises”.
Northern suburbs councillors celebrated the decision at the time, labelling the proposal an “overdevelopment”.
Planning documents for the new proposal claim the new development — with five fewer homes — had addressed the “key issues” raised by VCAT, including:
A CONTINUOUS built form along Patullos and O’Hallorans roads;
LACK of an architectural feature at the key intersection;
LIMITED surveillance along “rearloaded” laneways;
LACK of transition in lot sizes and setbacks; and,
INADEQUATE pedestrian amenity.
The updated plans include 79 singlestorey and five double-storey houses, on land sizes ranging from 118sq m to 283sq m, with 41 two-bedroom, 31 three-bedroom and 12 four-bedroom homes.
The new section of estate would include a 262sq m landscaped communal open space area on the site’s northern boundary, backing on to existing properties.
Members of the public will have until May 1 to lodge submissions to the plans, after which the council will make a decision on the latest planning application.