Anglesea’s Future By Mary Bremner
Concerned Anglesea residents believe the document produced by the State Government, outlining future possibilities for the closed Alcoa mine site, is at odds with the community’s feedback. Following the closure of Alcoa’s power station and coal mine in August 2015, the Victorian Government’s Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), together with the Surf Coast Shire and Parks Victoria, commenced consulting with the Anglesea community on the future use of the site. This was titled A nglesea Futures Community Conversation Series (Anglesea Futures). The vast majority of the 7,000 hectares under discussion was leased land (the Anglesea Heath) that has been surrendered by Alcoa and incorporated into the Great Otway National Park.
In early 2018, DELWP undertook a second community survey based around the 10 proposed areas. This extensive survey received 370 responses from a broad representation of interested parties including the resident population (60%), along with holiday home owners, local businesses, community groups and visitors. Alcoa’s power station and coal mine closed in 2015, but the chimney stack remains.
They were surprised to see that the way was being left open for residential land, and commercial tourist and retail operators, despite the clear opposition to these land uses in the survey.
The culmination of the process came in October 2018 with the publication of the final document, The A nglesea Futures Land Use Framework. Considering the report, the areas reserved for conservation are uncontentious and consistent with the
There remained a mixture of freehold land held by the Crown, Alcoa and other small private landowners. Between 2015 and 2018, DELWP conducted a series of meetings and workshops, and concerned citizens contributed to two extensive online surveys. The results of the first community survey were published in a discussion paper by DELWP (see Survey 1 graph on right). The survey results showed strong opposition to the rezoning of land for residential, retail, commercial and industrial use, tourism accommodation and licenced tour operators. DELWP published the Anglesea Futures Draft Land Use Plan in December 2017. This proposed a range of land uses for each of 10 areas. It was at this point that some Anglesea community members who had been involved in the discussions from the beginning, started to feel that there seemed to be a chasm opening up between the community feedback and what was being presented back to them via the Anglesea Futures draft plan. 8
Survey 1 graph shows results from the first community survey (taken from Anglesea Futures Land Use Scenarios Discussion Paper, August 2017). NewsAngle | Publication of the Anglesea Community House | Community Houses are for Everyone
