Mountain Views
Mail Covering the foothills of the Yarra Ranges & Murrindindi Shires
11 Tuesday, 21 June, 2016
Warby films delight
5
Lilydale’s library move
A Mail News Group publication
26-27
Sports of all sorts
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Horror start to week By JESSE GRAHAM IT WAS an horrific start to the week in Badger Creek on Monday morning, when a Healesville man was killed in a high-speed crash allegedly involving a stolen car. The 39-year-old man is believed to have been driving the red Holden Vectra down Don Road at about 5am, when he lost control near the intersection of Chalet Road. The car then left the road, smashing through a fence and into a tree before rolling - the man, who was the sole occupant, died at the scene. For the full story, turn to page 3.
Sawmill solved By JESSE GRAHAM THE long-standing dispute over Healesville’s controversial sawmill site development is all but over, with opponents and council working towards a settlement to avoid a second VCAT hearing. The development, proposed for 1725 Maroondah Highway, was raised by Yarra Ranges councillor Fiona McAllister on Tuesday 14 June, as an urgent item at the end of the council meeting. Councillors unanimously voted to “authorise the CEO ... to do all things necessary and appropriate” to resolve
the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) proceedings regarding the development, ahead of an impending hearing on 11 July. The council item came up as a result of a “without prejudice” offer from the applicant on 1 June to remove one of the two take away food restaurants from the site, with the addition of hotel rooms onto the development. A Section 173 agreement would also restrict the site to only having one convenience restaurant and prohibit gaming machines and gambling at the hotel.
The full development includes hotel rooms, convenience restaurants, a petrol station and an epicurean centre, and had been debated by the council and opponents in recent years - it was scheduled for a 11 July hearing if the council did not agree to the offer on 14 June. Healesville’s Chris Anthony, who represented the protesters against the development, said the offer was a “good outcome”, and would save a lengthy and expensive VCAT trial that could end in the whole development getting green-lit. He said that built-form issues, such
as maintaining some trees along the side of the highway, were also addressed by the applicant’s offer,“On balance, I don’t think we’ve got everything that we’d like for that important site, (but) something will be built there - there’s a permit already issued,” Mr Anthony said. “I think we’ve got the best possible outcome.” The impending VCAT hearing was the result of the applicant, Joseph Alesci, filing that the council had failed to determine an outcome for the application in the right timeframe.
Mr Anthony and Cr McAllister noted that, even if the matter was won by the council at VCAT, an application for a larger development at the site was approved in 2013 and is not due to expire until October 2017 - meaning the applicant could still build if this bid failed. Spokesperson for the applicant, ASK Planning director Mark Stanojevic read a statement from Mr Alesci, who said the changes proposed to the development would satisfy the concerns of objectors, while keeping the project financially viable. Continued on Page 3
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