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Meeting With Minister GuyBass Coast Mayor, Cr Veronica Dowman, Councillors and senior officers today met with Planning Minister Matthew Guy and local MP Ken Smith to discuss a range of planning issues and the pressures By Bass Coast - 12th May 2011 - Back to News faced by a growing coastal Shire.
Cr Dowman said it was a constructive meeting with Minister Guy.
"When there is a change in government, it is valuable to meet with the new Minister to gain an understanding of their priorities and to explain some of the issues we face to them first hand.
"We’re grateful that Minister Guy took time out of his schedule to meet with us today," said Cr Dowman.
The Minister acknowledged the amount of strategic land use planning Council had completed in recent years, commenting Bass Coast was well ahead of most other coastal councils.
Part of the discussion centred on the Minister’s approval of the revised Cape Paterson Eco-village proposal.
"Council referred this proposal to the Minister in January 2011," explained Cr Dowman.
"There was some community support for the proposal, but given the concerns raised by the Independent Planning Panel and the lack of information provided by the developer, we could not approve it in its current form.
"One of the key concerns was how this might affect the Victorian Coastal Strategy which is state policy and we believed this needed state input."
"We are looking forward to the release of the planning documents so we can see full detail of the proposal and exactly what the Minister has approved.
"We know some members of the community who have raised concerns about this proposal will be disappointed with the Minister’s decision.
"Until Council has a chance to study the planning documents, we are not in a position to comment on the implications this decision," continued Cr Dowman.
For more information contact:
Rachael Millar
communications officer
t (03) 5671 2703 | f (03) 5671 2222 | m 0400 804 187
e r.millar@basscoast.vic.gov.au
Source: www.gippsland.com Published by: news@gippsland.com
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