WHILE ownership of the Korumburra Senior Citizens Centre site at 14 Radovick Street remains fiercely in dispute, councillors voted on Wednesday against Cr Steve Finlay’s call to move to delay consideration of rezoning the land until the legal matter is resolved, appearing to risk expense for ratepayers.
After Cr Finlay’s alternate motion was narrowly defeated, the original recommendation before councillors won support; therefore the proposal to rezone the land from Public Use Zone (PUZ) to Commercial 1 Zone (C1Z) will be referred to an independent Planning Panel for an estimated two-day hearing likely to cost $15,000 to $20,000.
South Gippsland Shire Council argues that the Panel is required because objections to council’s intention to rezone the land to C1Z are unable to be resolved by negotiation.
However, that rezoning proposal is based on council’s contention that it owns the land, despite that ownership being the subject of unresolved Supreme Court action.
Council argues that either way, the land will need to be rezoned.
“If the legal proceedings find that the land is owned by a non-government entity, the land will not be classified as public use and will necessitate a rezoning from the PUZ to a zone reflecting its private ownership,” it is stated.
Although the Panel would be immediately informed of the Supreme Court battle between South Gippsland Shire Council and the Senior Citizens Club over the ownership of the land, it is unclear why the matter would need to be referred to the Panel at this stage if council doesn’t own the land.
Any rezoning required due to private ownership appears to be a separate matter to the proposal on which submissions objecting to the C1Z rezoning were based.
A total of 43 submissions were received on the proposed Amendment, including a late petition containing 1828 signatures.
“Submissions raised a range of concerns relating to the proposed rezoning, the adequacy of existing and alternative facilities for senior citizens, and the legal status of the land,” council states.
It argues the legal dispute over the land’s ownership does not inhibit the Amendment being referred to an independent Planning Panel for consideration, a view ultimately supported by a majority of councillors who weren’t won over by Cr Finlay.
His alternate motion called for council to request the Minister for Planning to grant an extension of six months before it is required to refer the proposed Amendment to an independent Planning Panel, outlining to the Minister the need to first resolve the legal matter.
Cr Finlay highlighted the ongoing public concerns over the ownership at the land, noting, “We at council have not been able to satisfy the community view regarding the implications of rezoning this property,” he said.
Cr John Kennedy backed Cr Finlay, confirming, “There are a lot of people in Korumburra unhappy about this, and as an elected member I’d like to go with what Cr Finlay said,” he declared after seconding the alternate motion.
While Cr Nathan Hersey was content to support Cr Finlay’s approach, Councillors Sarah Gilligan and Clare Williams were firmly in favour of pressing on with referring the planning matter to an independent panel.
“The submissions weren’t actually about this process that we’re voting on today,” Cr Gilligan said, arguing that “This is about rezoning the land, which will have to happen anyway, and if we pause it, when that (court) decision comes out, we’ve paused anything happening in an expedient way once that decision’s made.”
Cr Williams expressed appreciation of Cr Finlay’s alternate motion and the discussion it sparked but argued, “We’re looking at rezoning the land and no matter which way an outcome comes later on down the track, what we’re looking at is beneficial for both parties; that’s why I cannot support the amendment today.”
Mayor John Schelling summed up his support of the recommendation to direct the planning matter to an independent panel rather than supporting the alternate motion.
“We have spent a long time over this in our term on council and I firmly believe we’ve made a strong decision on where we’re going; consideration was given to all the right people at the right times and we need to push ahead with our original thinking and move towards continuing the process,” he said.
Along with Councillors Hersey, Finlay, and Kennedy, Cr Scott Rae voted in support of the alternate motion, with Councillors Brad Snell and Bron Beach joining Councillors Williams, Gilligan and Schelling in opposing it.
With that motion defeated 4-5, councillors voted 7-2 in support of the original recommendation, only Councillors Finlay and Kennedy voting against it.
