Mornington Peninsula Shire rejects Mornington Village Shopping Centre bid to expand into carpark
PLANS for a major redevelopment of a prime site in the gateway to Mornington have hit a snag after council rejected the controversial land swap deal that underpinned it.
South East
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PLANS for a major redevelopment of a prime site in the gateway to Mornington have hit a snag after council rejected the controversial land swap deal that underpinned it.
Graeme Dickson, for the applicant, told the council’s planning committee that Mornington Village Shopping Centre was “deteriorating” and urgently needed a revamp so it could compete with a new supermarket slated for the nearby former Masters site.
“What’s prompted this application is twofold — one, is that need to upgrade the centre and the other is the imminent opening of the Masters redevelopment, which puts the (Mornington Village) centre at fairly severe competitive risk,” he said.
“We believe there’s benefit to the council in the configuration of the land swap.”
Centre owners proposed the land swap — involving council owned car parking — as part of plans to increase the retail floor area by 2740sq m.
They wanted to build over current outdoor car parking and create a new basement car park.
The owners also offered to seal a council-owned unsealed car park as a sweetener.
But council officers have nipped the plan in the bub, saying the proposed deal was 73 spaces short for car parking requirements.
“Officers have genuine reservations the proposed development would provide a net community benefit,” they said in a report.
“The development seeks to significantly increase the retail floor space of the centre without a commensurate increase in car parking to accommodate the additional car parking demand.”
Officers said the applicant’s offer to seal existing unsealed car parking fell “significantly short” of providing net community benefit.
Cr David Gill said: “What we are losing here is car parking in an area it’s essential to have.”
Mr Dickson later told the Leader the applicant was weighing up options, but would not be drawn on whether a VCAT appeal was likely.
“The applicant is considering its position,” he said.
Mornington Village Shopping Centre manager Maree Abbott did not respond to a request for comment.