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19 July – 1 August 2011
MPNEWS (1300 676 397) or email: team@mpnews.com.au www.mpnews.com.au
‘Adult’ bookshop to VCAT Tickles takes up the challenge By Mike Hast THE shire council refusing an adult book and sex toys shop in a Somerville industrial estate will be challenged in the Victorian planning tribunal. The application to open the shop, called “Tickles”, has caused controversy since Somerville businessman Wayne Milburn applied to Mornington Peninsula Shire earlier this year. Tickles would be next door to the Dance Lab studio in Industrial Dve, where there is a block of six factories. By the end of June, the shire had received about 60 objections and a petition of 90 signatures against the proposal. Shire documents show statutory planner Edward Wilkinson recommended against Tickles on 29 May, a month before all objections had been received by the shire. Now Mr Milburn is taking the shire to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to try and overturn its decision. Mr Wilkinson’s report to the council stated the grounds of refusal were: “1. The proposed use adjacent to a sensitive use does not satisfy clause 15.01-4 as the proposed use does not contribute to a safe and functional environment. “2. The adult sex bookshop immediately adjacent to the dance academy that is predominantly frequented by young children is not appropriately located next to the existing sensitive use.
Fighting words: Somerville mower shop owner Wayne Milburn is taking Mornington Peninsula Shire to task over its refusal of an application for an adult bookshop in an industrial estate.
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“3. The highly conflicting uses between the dance academy and the adult sex bookshop is not consistent with the orderly planning of the area and the decision guidelines of clause 65.” Dance Lab teaches about 200 girls and boys aged from three to young adult. The school was started by Sharon Peters at Factory 6 and the shire issued her a permit to run a performing arts studio on 19 August 2003. It was sold to current owner Emily Grainger about three years ago. Factory 5, 19 Industrial Dve, was bought in 1998 by Mr Milburn, the owner and operator of W & G Mower Services in Frankston-Flinders Rd, Somerville. The shire granted him permission to use the factory to repair, service and store garden equipment such as lawn mowers and chainsaws in May 2007. Mr Milburn has operated W & G Mower Services in Somerville since 1987 after moving from Mornington and watched his business crash in recent years due to the long drought and competition from giant retailers such as Bunnings, Harvey Norman and Retravision, “tin sheds” as he calls them. “Our turnover has collapsed from as high as $900,000 a year to $130,000,” he told The News. “When Bunnings opened at Mornington, our sales fell 40 per cent. We lost another 20 per cent when they opened in Frankston.” Continued Page 4
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