Coastal village wins 10-year fight to stop housing sprawl

The Age

7 hours ago

Cape Paterson Residents and Ratepayers Association spokesman John Coulter said the decision was a big win for the community. The group had argued against the development at planning panels for the better part of a decade.
The group was sometimes accused of having a not-in-my-backyard mentality, Coulter said, but he noted that existing development of 240 homes on the western side of town was already adding to traffic concerns and pressure on unsealed roads.
Another key complaint has been the environmental effects of developing the landscape north of the town. New reports were introduced as part of the state's review late last year but those in favour of the development argue they were never given a fair chance to rebut the findings.
'It's not just about keeping the village feel of the township. It was the environmental concerns and traditionally ... That's mostly what we do,' Coulter said.
'We do revegetation of the foreshore. We work with Parks Victoria … It's a real struggle sometimes to have to get involved in this planning stuff because it's incredibly complex.
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'There is a sense of relief that we've got to the end of that process, and that we've got an outcome that the community has been asking for a long, long time.'
Cape Paterson is among many coastal communities facing development pressure as more Victorians seek a sea change, often creating political headaches.
In 2018, Victorian Labor attacked the Coalition for allowing a 'grossly expanded' town boundary at Cape Paterson. It went on to win the encompassing state seat of Bass from the Liberals for the first time since it was created and local MP Jordan Crugnale holds it on a razor-thin margin of 0.2 per cent.
The state government declared the Bass Coast a distinctive area and landscape, a process to provide greater protection from development, and in 2022 proposed tighter boundaries for several towns as part of this program.
Cape Paterson's boundary was not tightened, sparking a backlash from the residents' association. At the time, the government defended the decision by saying it was made after two rounds of public engagement, and informed by existing planning scheme policies and technical studies.
An independent panel was tasked in 2023 with reviewing the Bass Coast planning policy.
A renewed campaign in 2024 reignited debate over the Cape Paterson boundary expansion after the local council publicly opposed it and Crugnale advocated for a review.
In December, the Allan government agreed to re-open Cape Paterson's boundary to public feedback until the end of January 2025.
Peak bodies for the property sector and landowners wrote to Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny urging her not to wind back the boundary, arguing it was not the correct process for such a change and would cast doubt on the reliability of long-term planning.
Kilkenny ultimately decided in favour of the community campaign, releasing a new draft plan for the Bass Coast this week that revokes expansion of the Cape Paterson boundary north of Seaward Drive.
'We can build more homes, while also protecting what makes our regions so special,' a state government spokesperson said.
'The Bass Coast is one of Victoria's most environmentally significant regions. This draft policy will help set a clear long-term plan that provides certainty to council, developers, and local communities about where more homes can be built while protecting the environment.'
The consultation process received more than 1000 submissions, and the government said most of those supported tightening the boundary to protect the dune landscape and green space.
Kilkenny's decision was made public at the same time as a conflicting report from the 2023 independent panel.
That report, which had previously not been released, assessed one large area proposed to be subdivided north of Seaward Drive and found the boundary could remain. This was also the view of the planning minister at the time of the review.
'The committee supports the position of the proponent [planning minister] that the area defined for residential growth in Cape Paterson be upheld,' the report said.
The report found further work to refine the boundary was 'unnecessary', that the boundaries were not a 'green light for urban development at any cost', and rules still required landscape character and environment to be considered in any development seeking approval.
Bernard Collins, from development consultants Beveridge Williams, has been advising one group of prospective developers.
He said their clients did everything asked of them as part of the process and had prepared the site so it was ready for future development and to become an established part of the town.
'As a planner, it's concerning where perhaps due process is not fully followed in considering the future, structural future growth of townships,' Collins said.
'Orderly planning requires an orderly process. If that's not followed it causes doubt at many levels of the development process.'
Narracan MP Wayne Farnham, the opposition's shadow assistant minister for planning, accused Kilkenny of obstructing and interfering with a 'strategic evidence-based planning process'.
'The Allan Labor government talks a big game when it comes to their plans to build 800,000 homes, but their inconsistent approach makes it hard for homebuyers to get into the market, and hard for builders to deliver projects,' he said.
'This decision flies in the face of every strategic planning process, every recommendation and every cultural and environmental study done on the site.'
Victorian executive director of the Property Council Cath Evans said the decision 'contradicts the evidence-based process that had been followed for more than a decade'.
'The sudden change not only undermines trust in long-term planning but also sets a concerning precedent for future developments,' she said.
'This could result in driving away further investment and development urgently needed to meet our state's ambitious housing targets.'
A Bass Coast Shire Council spokesperson said an assessment had confirmed there was still enough supply to meet council's obligations for housing without needing the northern land.