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Many of you will be aware of the continuing pressure on the existing Ocean Grove town boundaries. It was great to see the recently amended (May 2021) City of Greater Geelong Settlement Strategy directing future growth away from the Bellarine Peninsula and maintaining the existing Ocean Grove town boundary. This amended Strategy was achieved despite strong opposition from some developers. Significant effort from community members and the Council held sway and the amendment was supported by an Independent Panel review and approved by the Minister for Planning in March 2021. A fantastic outcome and we think the OGCA on-line campaign of “Enough is Enough” with over 4,800 sign ups added to the weight of argument.
You can still add your weight to the on line petition as it will be used during the Bellarine Distinctive Areas and Landscapes process to demonstrate the communities view. Sign our petition at the link below.
Bellarine Distinctive Areas and Landscape (Bellarine DAL). This State Government process to “protect” distinctive areas and landscapes has been running for some time. This process has the potential to apply even stronger protections to town boundaries across the Bellarine. The process is required to be completed by October 2021 under State Government legislation – but it is running behind schedule. OGCA and many community members as individuals and as groups have made strong submissions to the first round of engagement.
The second round of engagement is anticipated soon (maybe June 2021) which will be the release of a draft Statement of Planning Policy (SPP) for comment followed by a Review Panel where groups and individuals may make presentations the Panel. The SPP is the key document of the whole process. OGCA and other groups and individuals are concerned to see that the language in the SPP is clear, unambiguous, implementable and provides legislative level protection of Bellarine town boundaries and the preservation of the key attributes that make up the Bellarine.
Sign our on line petition today.
Note: This is still an issue. Victorian Government have delayed decision 12 – 24 months. (December 2021)
