The Northpoint tavern on Hayley Drive off Mortlake Road has been on the drawing board for 12 years and still remains unfinished.
Carol Altmann – The Terrier
Is this Warrnambool’s ugliest building site?
I had no idea, until last night’s Warrnambool City Council meeting, that the poor residents of Hayley Drive, near Northpoint shopping centre on Mortlake Rd, have been looking at this stunning vista of a half-finished building for years.
In fact the planning process for what was going to be a “licensed restaurant” at the back of the bottle shop started in 2006.
That is four councils ago.
Since then the plan has been back to the council eight times for extensions and amendments and more extensions, as the “licensed restaurant” changed and morphed and popped out at the council meeting last night as the Northpoint Hotel, complete with a bar, a bistro and a TAB.
Some residents have had to object EIGHT times to the same project.
One elderly objector, now aged 89 (she was in Year 12 when the project started…okay, maybe not quite, but you get my point), said she always feared the restaurant would morph into a hotel. It looks like she was absolutely right.
I have come to the highly scientific conclusion that the planning laws – local and state – really suck.
How can a project come back to a council eight times over 14 years? How can a building sit half finished for years?
How can prime old Warrnambool buildings be demolished, and their blocks of land sit empty for years and years as what was an “urgent” project becomes suddenly not so urgent?
And why do the goal posts keep moving, so that a licensed restaurant becomes a hotel?
Cr Sue Cassidy was among the councillors last night who were not happy with that change and moved – successfully as part of the planning approval – that the word “hotel” not be used in any signage.
The goal posts must not keep moving, Cr Cassidy said.
I am personally delighted to hear this, as my little street is about to do a David and Goliath by challenging the whiz bang Lyndoch Medical Clinic that was approved in 2017 , “amended” in February this year and approved again last month.
This “amendment” has seen the project double in size. Cr Cassidy, as we know, is both a director of the Lyndoch Medical Clinic and a Lyndoch board member.
From what Cr Cassidy said last night, it looks like my street can count on her support when it rolls onto VCAT.
That is another whole story, for another day.
Urgent WCC meeting to endorse racehorses at Levy’s Beach
Such is the might and power of the racing industry, the W’bool City Council will hold an urgent meeting this Friday to endorse plans to get racehorse training at Levy’s within weeks. Image: horsestock
Carol Altmann – The Terrier
An urgent meeting will be held by the W’bool City Council this Friday (21/12) to allow large-scale racehorse training at Levy’s Beach, starting almost immediately.
Planning Minister Richard Wynne, as predicted, has intervened and asked for interim changes to the local planning laws – the same laws that found racehorse training was illegal in this section of the Belfast Coastal Reserve.
The council is now classing the matter as so “urgent and extraordinary” that a special meeting will be held on the last day before the holiday break to endorse this decision.
Not a word of this was raised in public last night (17/12), when the council held a meeting to talk about waste management and new signs at the entrance to the city.
Once that meeting finished, however, the real fireworks began with councillors called to a confidential “briefing” where they were given details of Mr Wynne’s intervention.
All of this in the last week before Christmas, when everybody is distracted and busy. But, of course, that is precisely the point.
Governments of all persuasions know the best time to bury controversial decisions is around the biggest holidays of the year.
What a gift to the racing industry. What a slap – again – to our precious environment.
Those councillors who vote for this on Friday night and call themselves environmentalists are a bit like self-declared vegetarians who eat meat once a week.
You can’t, pardon the pun, have a bet each way.
You either stand for the environment, and the endangered species and fragile dune system at Levy’s Beach, or you don’t.
To pretend this is some sort of “compromise” is simply a cop-out. Parks Victoria don’t want this. The majority of people who responded to the management report for the reserve don’t want this. Racing people who love the environment don’t want this (Clare Lindop, I am looking at you x)
The only people who want this are a handful of wealthy, well-connected, well-resourced trainers who stand to make a lot of money from brutalising our beach.
I am going to be there on Friday night, just to witness the capitulation, because that is exactly what it will be.
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Rumblings growing louder about racehorse training at Levy’s
The main stretch of sand at Levy’s Beach, Warrnambool, on a spring day. The racehorse industry was hoping to gain access to the beachfront by December 1, until it hit a legal hurdle.
Carol Altmann – The Terrier
Things have gone eerily quiet on the push to get racehorse training up and running at Levy’s Beach in Warrnambool, which makes me suspect something is afoot, because the billion dollar racing industry is not going to give up that easily.
As we know, plans to have up to 160 racehorses a day training on Levy’s Beach (120 on the beach and 40 in the dunes) by December 1 were thwarted when it was found to be against the law under the Warrnambool City Council planning scheme.
That pressed a big fat pause button while the state election was held and the man who could change things for the racing fraternity, Planning Minister Richard Wynne, found out whether he kept his seat in Richmond. He did.
The word is that, since then, the racing industry has been pressing hard to have Mr Wynne step in and do something to fast track their access to Levy’s.
What Mr Wynne can do is intervene and issue an interim order allowing racehorses to train on the beach, while the council goes through the much longer process of changing its planning laws to accommodate them.
From my understanding, even with Mr Wynne’s intervention, the council would still need to finalise licence arrangements with the Warrnambool Racing Club, but given its forelock tugging so far, that should not be a problem.
Damage to the dunes at Levy’s Beach caused by years of unfettered and illegal access by dune buggies, four-wheel-drives, motorbikes and horses. Image: Google Earth.
As a sweetener, the WRC even generously offered to add more asphalt to the Lady Bay waterfront and build a $400,000 bespoke carpark and horse wash-down facility for its own needs.
The idea of this, as pointed out by club, was so horses could train their guts out on the dunes and foreshore at Levy’s, then hop on a float and be whisked down to Lady Bay for a refreshing swim and aqua aerobics.
So, as you can see, the industry is not about to give up easily on establishing a convenient, low-cost, one-stop-shop racehorse training facility just a few minutes drive from the racecourse, subsidised by our unique natural environment.
For all this, trainers will pay an annual licence of a few hundred dollars, plus the princely sum of $6 per horse per day for Lady Bay and probably $3 per day for Levy’s beach.
I pay more than this to use the Aquazone swim centre and I am not a wealthy racehorse trainer.
Trap for Fools, winner of the $2 million 2018 Mackinnon Stakes, is among the racehorses trained in Warrnambool by local trainer, Jarrod McLean. Image: Darryl Sherer, www.racenet.com.au
While we wait to see what happens next – and something will happen – it is worth remembering that the majority of us, including those who love and support horse racing (#notallracehorsetrainers #notalljockeys), did not want this.
More than 60% of people who responded to the Belfast Coastal Management Reserve draft plan said they did not want commercial racehorse training in the coastal reserve.
There are some key words here: “commercial racehorse training” and “coastal reserve”.
To be clear, Lady Bay is not part of the Belfast Coastal reserve, it is a separate issue.
Commercial racehorses are not recreational horse riders, they are a separate issue.
Racehorses are not Rundell’s horse trails, they don’t use the dunes for strength training.
What people did want was a management plan for a spectacular, remote, wild, yet often neglected and abused part of our coastline that is home to rare and endangered birds, rare plants and a rich indigenous history.
There was no management plan for the area. Now we have a plan…but there are racehorses stuck right in the middle of it.
Parks Victoria is not happy either. They can’t say that, of course, because they are public servants, but they have been forced to hammer this square peg into a round hole.
The last time Parks staff spoke to the public in Warrnambool about the plan, that anguish was palpable.
But the racing industry is powerful. It uses terms like “dollars” and “jobs” and “tourism” and “Darren-Weir-will-move-his-stable” to try and shame anyone who says, hold on, we like horse racing, but why do you need to tear up our wild beach?
Racehorse trainer Jarrod McLean’s website promotes dune and beach work in Warrnambool as one of the attractions of his services. Image: Stealth Lodge Racing.
To date, Cr David Owen has been the lone voice of dissension on council. I don’t expect that to change.
The racehorse industry will get what it wants from the State Government*. That won’t change either.
But what can change is our understanding of this issue and what it means, long-term, for a coastal reserve in our backyard.
We need to get a full grip on that and then decide if we want to join the push to stop this race, because believe me, it ain’t over yet.
* The State Government last week announced another $33 million will be made available as prize money for racing in 2019-20. The total prize money now available in Victoria is $255 million, up 47% from 2015.
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Janis and Dean Bennett, with Princess Penelope, in the yard of their Merrivale home. The couple are among those fighting to stop two major industrial developments by the Midfield Group on land now zoned Public Use.
Words: Carol Altmann
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] W [/dropcap]hen Janis and Dean Bennett bought their little rough diamond of a house in Merrivale almost 10 years ago, they knew it wasn’t far from the Midfield meatworks, but they could live with that.
Like most young couples, they needed a home that would fit their budget and the little suburb on the west side of Warrnambool had a lot going for it: a primary school, a football and cricket club, close to a river and beach, and within walking distance to town.
The Bennetts have since had a child and, through hard work, slowly transformed their “rough diamond” into a cosy home, with a thriving vegie patch, herb garden and chicken coop. Merrivale has also changed from being a very working-class suburb to a socio-economic mix of people wanting to live in an area with character and a strong sense of community.
But now the people of Merrivale are being asked to accept two enormous changes to their suburb: a 29m tall cold storage facility (basically, a giant fridge) and a 35m tall milk powder factory, both of which would operate 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week, on Scott St.
In what is shaping up as a classic David v Goliath battle, people like the Bennetts are battling to have the expansion stopped and will put their case to an independent panel hearing that starts in Warrnambool on Tuesday, Feb 3. (See end of story for details and timetable).
This image by the Merrivale Community Association and the We Love Merrivale group shows how they believe the cold store (right) and milk processing plant (left) will look from the Warrnambool Showgrounds. Image: Supplied.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] W[/dropcap]hen the projects were first announced by the Midfield Group, they were expected to create up to 200 jobs. It has since been revealed, however, that only up to 22 full-time jobs will be created after construction. Property prices are also expected to be affected.
“We are not against a milk factory being built, but it is just in the wrong place: it needs to be out of town,” Janis said.
The planning laws, as they stand, agree with her.
Both projects require land to be rezoned from Public Use to Industrial, including land that was once owned by the people (as Crown land) and used by the Warrnambool City Council depot, until it was sold off to Midfield last year.
The Warrnambool Planning Scheme also asks that a cold store be no less than 150m from the nearest dwelling. The nearest house is less than 100m away.
The scheme also recommends that a milk processing factory be at least 300m from a home. The nearest house will be 130m.
The reason for these protections, of course, are that large-scale factories and freezers bring with them noise, lights, extra trucks, extra traffic and a whole raft of potential hazards that don’t sit well with residential areas.
“We quite happily live near a pre-existing industrial zone, but we also knew that there were laws in place to prevent certain things happening and to make sure that things weren’t forced through,” Dean said.
“The council is now being asked to change those laws and there is an expectation that it will go ahead because of the money behind it.”
Signs like this one have been popping up in windows and on fences around Merrivale as the community rallies to stop the developments. Image: Bluestone Magazine.
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] T [/dropcap]he Bennetts are among those particularly concerned about the potential health risks of the expansion and the fact that both projects will be within 1km of a primary school.
“I know we are talking worst case scenarios, but they can happen and (Midfield) has to plan for such things happening: this is what they want to put on our doorstep,” Janis said.
The Merrivale Community Association will be among those represented at the independent panel hearing, together with at least another 17 submitters against or in favour of the project.
Spokesman Keith McAlley – who will represent the MCA – has been wading through around 8kg of documents that outline the expert witnesses to be called by Midfield and the council.
There will be lawyers and QCs and a string of experts, and then there will be Keith, and other speakers from the community who wish to have their say.
“It is daunting, but I am at that point in my life where I ask ‘what can I do to help myself?’ and ‘what can I do to help my community?,” Keith said.
Keith hopes that wider Warrnambool will get behind the MCA campaign, because he believes the impact of the development will be felt across the city through more large trucks on the road, damage to roads and a dramatic change to the visual landscape of west Warrnambool.
“As ratepayers, you will be picking up the repair bill for any damage to the road, for example,” he said.
Once the independent panel has heard all submissions, it will make recommendations to the council.
It is then up to the council to decide if it will accept or reject the recommendations: giving the Midfield Group either a green or red light.
[learn_more caption=”Click here for the panel hearing timetable”]
Hearings start at 10am and finish around 4.30pm, South-west TAFE, Level 3.
Tuesday, Feb 3: (All day)
Representatives for Warrnambool City Council.
Wednesday Feb 4:
AM: Environmental Protection Authority; Representatives for 92 Liebig St Pty Ltd.
PM: Site inspection at Scott St. (2.30pm-4.30pm)
Thursday, Feb 5: Representatives for Midfield Meat International.
Friday, Feb 6: Representatives for Midfield Meat International.
Tuesday, Feb 10: Representatives for Midfield Meat International.
Wednesday, Feb 11:
AM: Merrivale Community Association.
PM: Various submitters from the community.
Thursday, Feb 12: Various submitters from the community.
Friday, Feb 13:
AM: Midfield Meat International closing comments and right of reply.
PM: Warrnambool City Council closing comments and right of reply.
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