THE tragedy of the decision by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal yesterday, Monday, May 15, to knock back the application for a $50 million new National Vietnam Veterans Museum to be built on Phillip Island is that some of the older or unwell Vietnam Veterans will never see it.
That has been the response from Kingsley Mundey AM, chair of the National Vietnam Veterans Museum board after receiving the decision by VCAT at 7pm on Monday night this week.
“It’s not good news. I’ve seen the decision but I’m still working my way through the 48-page deliberation. We’ll take a couple of days to consider our position and to meet as a board.
“It’s a speed bump, not a roadblock. We’ll look at where we go to from here,” Mr Mundey said.
“The critical factor for us is that our veterans are dying, and we need to build it so they can see it. Every day we delay, more veterans are dying.
“We still want to do it, but we have to do it in a place where people will have us,” he said.
Another issue, revealed recently by CEO of the museum, Braxton Lane, is that there are many Vietnam Veterans, both in Australia and overseas, wanting to offer their memorabilia, from the Vietnam War, to the museum before they die, much of it having high historical value.
The delay caused by the VCAT decision is a threat to that process because the NVVM simply hasn’t got anywhere to store the equipment and material.
Mr Mundey confirmed that the ‘Farming’ use zone of the land they own, 40.11 hectares at 24 Churchill Road, Newhaven, fronting Phillip Island Road opposite the intersection with Woolamai Beach Road, was one of the main stumbling blocks for VCAT and also the scale of the building, at approximately 4200m2.
The VCAT decision also notes the project is contrary to the local strategic context.
“What I find difficult is that council has been extremely supportive of the project. Not offering us any short cuts, of course, but council did a good job of working through the changes we made, signing off on it and then having it unanimously supported by council only for VCAT to say no and criticising council in the process, which I don’t believe they deserved.
“But look, I only found out about this at 7pm last night and we are still considering our position.”
The National Vietnam Veterans Museum board has reportedly spent $180,000 on the VCAT process, to consider objections brought by several local landholders, among other things, objecting to the use in a Farming Zone.
In a newsletter to supporters, before the VCAT hearing in February, they also revealed spending $1 million on the development application for the site at 24 Churchill Road.
But they have no right of appeal, other than on a point of law, to the Supreme Court.
The decision by VCAT is effectively final.
Another member of the NVVM board, John Methven OAM, when asked if the project could be put forward again, if council rezoned the land to a more favourable use, Mr Methven said it was highly unlikely.
“I don’t think they’d do that,” he said.
The project had already secured $10 million from the State Government, the promise of a further $10 million from the State Opposition prior to the election campaign in 2022 and an earlier commitment of $5 million from the Federal Government.
A favourable decision by VCAT would have initiated a new drive for additional funding.
What happens now is up to the NVVM board to decide.
The NVVM purchased to 40.11 hectare site, reportedly from one of those who subsequently objected to their project, for $2.6 million on July 19, 2019*.
A local property consultant believes they would likely get their money back on the open market if they wanted to sell the property with a house a permissible use in a Farming Zone where the site is over 40ha.
* In a ‘A Call to Arms’ communique to supporters, on February 6, 2023, published online ahead of the VCAT hearing, the National Vietnam Veterans Museum tried to put a positive spin on the objections but couldn’t hide their disappointment about one of the objectors: “Attached is a flyer addressed to all Vietnam veterans alerting them to a Victorian Civil and Administrative Council (VCAT) hearing at which the NVVM will argue against some objections raised by self-important individuals to the construction of a new museum building on our land. The objections are flimsy, to say the least, and negotiations to settle the matters without recourse to VCAT have stalled. Ironic that one of the objectors is the very same person who sold us the land knowing full well what was planned for it".
