Mixed views on Simons Lane acquisition

COMPULSORY acquisition of land in Simons Lane, Leongatha South is to proceed. 

A majority of councillors voted at their November public meeting to do so in order to create a safer intersection with the Bass Highway, but Cr John Schelling opposed that approach.

He is supportive of the need to improve Simons Lane, saying that is something people have been wanting to achieve for years, but feels the process could have been handled differently.

“I have taken umbrage to the way we’ve gone about it, that we’ve gone down the compulsory acquisition road; in my working life I’ve always found negotiation and collaboration works a lot better than telling people what they should do and what they shouldn’t do,” he said.

Cr Schelling said the Patterson family, who stand to lose a portion of their land, have worked hard with the shire to achieve a good outcome, adding that they “have been left largely in the cold at the end of the whole discussion”.

“They’ve indicated to me that they are prepared to negotiate all the way through and have not been allowed to in the final phase of the whole thing,” he said.

While Cr Schelling conceded there may be reasons why that has occurred, he called for extra time to allow for further negotiation.

“I’d like to foreshadow an amendment to push this decision back for a month to allow the officers to deal with the Patterson family and see if we can find common ground going forward, rather than making a hasty decision today,” Cr Schelling said.

However, councillors voted to support the initial recommendation to commence the compulsory acquisition process, so Cr Schelling’s amendment was not directly considered.

He explained to the Sentinel-Times the key issue to be negotiated is determining a fair value for the land to be acquired.

“They (the Pattersons) still will get an option to negotiate, but the shire will put forward a figure, the landowners will put forward a figure and it will all be done through lawyers, and I thought we could have saved some of the cost and negotiated out ourselves,” Cr Schelling said.

The report received by councillors indicated that in order to “construct a new intersection where Simons Lane meets the Bass Highway to improve road safety, council will need to acquire parcels of land from three properties.”

“As part of its adopted Capital Works Program for 2022/23, council is committed to the realignment and reconstruction of Simons Lane,” it is stated.

The project involves three key elements.

They are to seal Simons Lane along the majority of its existing unsealed alignment, close the lane at its current hazardous intersection with the Bass Highway, and relocate the intersection to a safer site.

The realignment is intended to overcome “sight distance safety issues for right turning vehicles into and out of Simons Lane”, with a lack of available public road space to achieve the intended design prompting the recommendation to acquire land.

It is intended to situate the new intersection approximately 290 metres north east of the current location, further along the Bass Highway towards Leongatha.

Cr Scott Rae joined Cr Schelling in voting against the recommendation put to councillors to commence the acquisition process for the three parcels of land concerned, with councillors Mick Felton and Sarah Gilligan not present at the meeting, having been granted leave.

Those councillors supporting the land acquisition stressed the importance of action that enables Simons Lane to be made safer.

“It’s been around 14 years since this particular area was considered for change and it’s a positive step forward for improving the safety of a hazardous intersection, and also the sealing of Simons

Lane will be beneficial to the people who live in that area,” Cr Jenni Keerie said.

“It’s about a trade off,” Cr Clare Williams said.

“Yes, we’re acquiring some land, but having this will create a safer spot for people to come into Simons Lane.”

Cr Nathan Hersey also stressed the positive side of acquiring the land.

“What compulsory acquisition can do in this situation is 
provide certainty for the community, certainty for a safety upgrade of that intersection, certainty that the road can be sealed, and it also provides certainty for those in the area who are looking at developing land, which will help to create housing,” Cr Hersey said.
He conceded there are different ways council can go about things but feels that such certainty may be what the community is looking for in this instance.
Mayor Mohya Davies also spoke in favour of the intended Simons Lane project, supporting the land acquisition to achieve it.
“This will allow Simons Lane to remain as a through route and will provide dedicated right and left hand turning lanes from the Bass Highway into Simons Lane, which I think is a good outcome,” she said, adding, “It is a dangerous intersection.”
Creating the turning lanes will be made possible by the acquisition of two narrow pieces of land on Bass Highway, not owned by the Pattersons.