Otway Forum Report
12th August 2018
OTWAY FORUM MEETING No. 315 - August 12 2018
Apologies Cr. S. Hart
- Special Council Meeting held this week in Apollo Bay for councillors to vote on the Barham mega resort proposal.
- The result of this vote will be the position COS takes to the Planning Panel.
- Council officers have recommended that councillors support the mega resort, however a long list of further information is required from the developer/speculator????
- This proposal has been with the COS planning department for over 12 months and the required documentation is still incomplete????
- How much of our rates have been spent on trying to progress this unwanted speculative mega hotel development????
- How can COS councillors be expected to vote on the proposal when a lot of the detail is STILL incomplete????
- How can the Panel make a recommendation to the Minister if the information requested is still incomplete???
- Over 100 new submissions received by the Panel after further incomplete information was released.
- Objectors group now has over 1500 members.
- The Panel will hold its second Directions Hearing on Aug. 23rd at the Senior Cits.
- Only five councillors to vote at SCM, as Terry Woodcroft has resigned and Chris Potter will be absent.
- A recount from the last council election will decide who replaces Cr. Woodcroft on Mon. Aug. 27th
- DELWP to present ANOTHER report on our beach erosion issues in Sept/Oct.
- Hopefully this will once again explain all the issues and finally recommend some long term solutions to save the beach and GOR.
- Previous Sand Studies, that explain all the issues, causes, solutions and costs, are available on the Forum website forum.apollobay.org.au
- Please read these reports so you are informed when DELWP present their next report!!
- At least three more local rock armouring projects along the GOR to commence shortly.
- At least 15 other areas are also under threat of collapse or inundation and are to be reinforced.
- Front beach continues to be replenished with sand from inside the harbour and the Pt Bunbury groyne area.
- DELWP workshop in May, reported that most of the sand, that washed away from last year’s work at the back beach, has not resettled in the area it was taken from.
- Now the area where that sand was harvested is more vulnerable to storm surges and rising sea levels.
- If this cycle of rising sea levels and increasingly more frequent and powerful storm surges continues, there will soon not be enough sand for further replenishment.
- The State government’s Victorian Coastal Council new report – Preparing for the Future, predicts sea level rise of 59 cms by 2070.
- With the probability of higher sea levels as the Antarctic and Arctic ice sheet melt continues to accelerate.
- The latest scientific studies show that worldwide carbon emissions continue to rise and the 2 degree F tipping point is set to be reached by 2070 as fossil fuel burning continues to accelerate.
- VCAT has rejected the second subdivision plan for the site near the museum.
- More clarification is needed in the Planning scheme/zoning on setbacks, lot sizes and neighbourhood character?
- Project Control Group for a harbour redevelopment met this month for an update on the formal Expression Of Interest process.
- This process will have to get councillors approval.
- This will involve another consultancy for a Development Plan before the EOI begins.
- COS could save a very large amount of tax payers’ dollars by using the Otway Forum plan, that has broad community support.
- This plan drawn up by GBLA landscape architects covers all relevant areas of a redevelopment and can also be found on the forum website.
- It is based on Option one from the 1990 harbour redevelopment plan!!!!
- Binn’s Road needs to be classed as tourist road like Turton’s track?
- Tip tickets are available for ratepayers for hard rubbish.
- Ramsden Avenue needs kerb and channelling now that there’s a lot more traffic with the doctors surgery using the hospital.
Otway Forum meets 2nd Sunday of every month at 3pm at Marrar Woorn or find us at www.forum.apollobay.org.au.
Find out what’s really going on!
Peter Fillmore
Hon. Secretary
Otway Forum
0428 091 694