Moondah Estate will “disintegrate” if the property is rezoned, say the descendants of the mansion’s creator
A “special piece” of Mornington Peninsula history could be lost if the land it stands on is given green wedge protection. Here’s why.
South East
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Locals fear a special piece of local history will “disintegrate” if a bid to slap green wedge restrictions on a Mornington Peninsula property is successful.
Colin Cook says Moondah Estate, a grand mansion built in 1888 by his great-grandfather James Grice, is under threat from a council plan to rezone the Mt Eliza land it stands on.
“If the land is rezoned the house and the historic gatehouse will be in real danger,” Mr Cook said.
“The buildings need ongoing maintenance and without care they’re at the mercy of the weather and squatters.”
The 60-70 Kunyung Rd property was bought in 2016 for about $40 million by Ryman Healthcare which wanted to build a retirement village on the 8.9ha site.
Ryman’s plans included spending up to $10 million on restoring the exterior of Moondah Estate and renovating the interior to make it “the heart of the village community”.
However, the first plan for the site was rejected in July 2020 by Mornington Peninsula Shire and the Victorian Administrative and Planning Tribunal later upheld the decision.
Ryman has since lodged scaled back plans for the site and was awaiting another VCAT hearing after the council ran out of time to consider the application.
Meanwhile, the shire has included 60-70 Kunyung Road in a proposed planning amendment to change eight sites in the region from special use zone to green wedge.
The council has sought public feedback and was expected to decide on June 20 if it wanted to proceed with the amendment.
The state planning Minister would have the final say on the amendment.
Mr Cook said Ryman’s plan was the best way to preserve Moondah Estate and the gatehouse.
“If the land is rezoned Ryman would have to sell it and there’s very little anyone who bought it could do with the land to make the cost of preserving the buildings worthwhile.”
Ryman’s Victorian Development manager David Laing said permissible uses for the site if it was rezoned included a place of worship, education or leisure and recreation facility.
He said it was difficult to speculate on the cost involved with purchasing the site and re-purposing it for commercial use under the green wedge restrictions.
“For our part, we’re totally focused on what we’ll definitely be able to achieve with our proposed village development: a fully restored Moondah mansion as the centrepiece of a community providing much needed care to some of society’s most vulnerable people,” Mr Laing said.
He agreed the existing buildings would deteriorate over time if left unoccupied.
“We’ve also had a number of issues with squatters and vandals getting into the buildings, including the mansion, so there’s also a risk they could be seriously damaged or destroyed by fire.”
Mornington Peninsula mayor Anthony Marsh said the council understood the heritage significance of the buildings.
“Ultimately the responsibility of maintaining the buildings rests with the land owner,” Cr Marsh said.
He said the future of the site would be clearer following the planning amendment process and VCAT decision on Ryman’s permit application.
Ryman has already spent $800,000 restoring the exterior of the heritage-listed gatehouse on Kunyung Rd.
The gatehouse is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and is prized for being a “late and rare example of a Picturesque Tudor Revival Style entrance folly”.
Moondah Estate was built by James Grice in 1888 in the Italian Renaissance Revival style.
The opulent 42 room holiday home was sold to the late Sir Reginald Ansett in 1947 who restored the building into a five-star hotel.