This week, we received a letter from the Planning Minister, Matthew Guy, advising that he will rezone 23 ha of farm land in Ventnor. 

The land sits outside the town boundaries set by the Cowes Ventnor Silverleaves Structure Plan adopted by Council in 2008.  Like all our structure plans, this went through a thorough process with extensive community consultation and was reviewed by an independent planning panel.  Feedback during the structure plan consultation process showed that the community did not support extending the town boundaries. 

While this is a very big issue for the community of Ventnor, it also has implications for our entire community and many other coastal areas. Personally, I am very concerned how a decision like this might have repercussions on other areas in Bass Coast and on the planning process generally. I firmly believe that local communities should have an input into planning decisions.  The State Government has said it is committed to an open, transparent and inclusive approach to planning decisions, but unfortunately this was not reflected in the Ventnor decision. 

We arranged an urgent meeting with the Minister on Thursday, 15 September and discussed all our concerns with him.  Unfortunately we were not able to persuade him to change his mind. At the moment, Amendment C93, which deals with the township boundaries for ten of our coastal communities (Bass, Cape Paterson, Corinella, Coronet Bay, Grantville, Harmers Haven, Jam Jerrup, Kilcunda, Pioneer Bay, Tenby Point) is waiting to be signed off by the Minister. 

We discussed Amendment C93 during our meeting with Minister Guy.  Senior department officers confirmed they were reviewing the Amendment and they would submit it to the Minister very soon.  The Minister committed to making a decision within weeks. 
If you have concerns about the Ventnor decision or the way it has been made, or want Amendment C93 adopted without change, exercise your rights under our great, democratic system and let the politicians know.   Our community needs to make it clear that local planning decisions should be respected.

Cr Veronica Dowman, Mayor
Bass Coast Shire Council