Multi million dollar hotel, apartments back on table for Bass Coast Shire Council approval
A controversial multi-million dollar development looks likely to go ahead in the heart of Phillip Island.
Bass Coast News
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Council is expected to this week support amended plans for a controversial multi-million dollar development slated for the heart of Phillip Island.
Documents show Bass Coast Shire Council officers have recommended councillors support a planning application amended to propose a four-storey hotel and apartment complex at the September meeting, to be hosted on Wednesday.
The original plans put to council were for a five-storey development with a rooftop deck, which was to house 11 apartments, two food and drink premises, four retail spaces and an hotel with 46 rooms.
The development, which also included a basement carpark with 46 car parks, attracted 23 objections.
Council rejected the application in December 2021 for reasons including inadequate parking spaces and the building’s height, with the developer, RE King Homes, then taking its fight to VCAT.
However, the applicant applied to submit revised plans after two mediation sessions, the documents show.
The amended plans scale the Thompson Avenue development back to four storeys, meaning the building would be a proposed height of about 17m.
Slated for Cowes, it would include five apartments, 43 hotel rooms and a gym and pool on the ground floor.
In this month’s council agenda, officers recommend informing VCAT that the Bass Coast council supports the amended plans, subject to some conditions, before the next scheduled tribunal hearing in October.
The report says the amended application “adequately strikes a balance” and would provide a community benefit.
“The amended design response, while being above the preferred height...is considered responsive to its immediate surrounds, with the modifications proposed addressing the grounds of refusal issued in relation to the design response, car parking, sustainability and waste,” the agenda says.
“...The amended design provides for integration and an appropriate transition of built form to the Cowes Cultural Centre.”
Meanwhile, a planning application for a service station and warehouse to be built on Grantville Drive in Grantville will also be considered.
While no objections were received, the development would cost $4.5m and so needs to go to council for a permit.
Officers have recommended it be granted with some amendments.
A third planning application for a four-storey mixed-use building on Marine Parade in San Remo will also be considered.
Council received three objections, including about overdevelopment, to the $4.2m development.
The officers have recommended a notice of decision to grant a permit be issued, subject to conditions.
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