Country club bid stymied

YARRA Ranges last week thwarted Chirnside Park Country Club’s plans to move its golf course to Coldstream.
The shire denied the club’s application following a report from an independent planning panel.
The report outlined the panel’s suggestions the development of the land in Victoria Road, Coldstream, for a golf course would be inconsistent with the State and Local Planning policy.
Shire manager of community relations James Martin said the golf course would impinge on a clause of the planning policy that protects agricultural land.
Mr Martin said the site was situated in an area considered to be agricultural land.
In December 2003 the Chirnside Park Country Club, in conjunction with Australian Agricultural and Property Management (AAPM), sought to relocate its course.
Shire director of planning, building and health James LamourReid said the intention was to redevelop the existing golf course site for residential use.
He said the country club proposed to establish a new golf course in Coldstream.
In August last year the council received 17 objections to the course after advertising its intentions to amend the planning scheme, the main objections related to the site being part of agricultural land.
The council referred the application to the Minister for Planning, Rob Hulls, to set up an independent planning panel to address concerns.
The panel earlier this year conducted a hearing over four days and concluded the council should abandon the application.
Mr LamourReid said the panel found the location of the land outside the urban area would mean the proposed golf course would fragment rural land and remove it from potential productive agricultural uses. He said the panel considered a golf course had the potential in the long term to alienate the land from agricultural use.
Speaking for the country club, David Crowder of Radito Consultants asked the council to adjourn its decision for further discussion.
Mr Crowder said the long term affect on the land was not a reason to reject the proposal.
However, Chandler Ward councillor Alan Fincher said the proposal had been considered fairly by the independent panel.