By JESSE GRAHAM
HEALESVILLE’S sawmill site development will be heading back to council, with a new $23 million application for the site currently open for comment.
The application for 17-25 Maroondah Highway is currently listed on the Yarra Ranges Council’s website as open for community consultation, with a detailed, 244-page report on the application attached.
The consultation announcement comes two years after a development for the site, featuring an epicurean centre, two fast-food outlets, a service station and a car wash was green-lit by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
The new application appears similar to the one passed by VCAT, with 70 ‘lodging rooms’ attached to the epicurean centre, as well as a fast-food outlet to compliment two convenience stores, one of which will have drive-through facilities.
In suggested permit conditions listed within the application, the convenience stores will be able to seat 109 and 80 people, respectively.
The application asks for the service station to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while the take-away food outlet has suggested 24-hour opening times for weekends, with reduced hours during the week.
The applicant listed for the development is N Ammache, of Ammache Architects, with an estimated $23 million for the whole development.
The development drew controversy in 2013, when a number of community members opposed the application and council refused to support it – the development was then appealed to VCAT, where it was approved on Friday 27 September, 2013.
Public submissions on the application will close on Friday 16 October, and can be made online at www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au, or by mail to P.O. Box 105, Lilydale, 3140.
The Mail contacted the Yarra Ranges Council with questions as to when the application was made, when consultation opened, when the matter will go before a council meeting, and how many submissions had been received to date, but a representative did not immediately respond.
More as it comes.
