Ryman Healthcare lodges fresh plan for Kunyung Rd, Mt Eliza
An international aged care provider is continuing its fight to build a haven for seniors on Mt Eliza land once owned by Reg Ansett.
South East
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Ryman Healthcare has kicked off a new round in its ongoing battle to build a seaside retirement resort on the Mornington Peninsula.
The New Zealand company has lodged a fresh planning application for 104 independent living apartments, 35 assisted living suites and 82 aged care beds at 60-70 Kunyung Road, Mt Eliza.
It is a scaled-back version of Ryman’s original vision for the 8.9ha site that included 181 apartments for independent living, 48 assisted living suites and 82 aged care beds.
Ryman went back to the drawing board after the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal refused to overturn Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s July 2020 rejection of the project.
Ryman’s development manager David Laing said the tribunal had given “clear guidance on what would be an appropriate outcome for the site”.
“We were really pleased the independent umpire ruled that retirement living and
aged care is a suitable use for the site, and how much the community would benefit
from having a Ryman village there,” Mr Laing said.
“The recommendations VCAT has given have been incredibly helpful, so we’ve been
able to take those on board and submit a new permit application that responds
directly to it.”
Mr Laing said Ryman had also appealed to the Supreme Court to review how a point of
planning law was interpreted by the tribunal.
“But this will have no bearing on the how the new permit application will be considered,” he said.
“We obviously have a long-term interest in this site so just want to make sure that the
correct policy and planning framework is applied to it, now and into the future.”
Mornington Peninsula Shire council received 1068 objections to the original plan which included
Locals described as an “industrial scale, multistorey tower complex” that was not appropriate for the site.
Objectors created Save Reg’s Wedge to fight the plan and raised $42,175 to pay for legal representation at VCAT.
Following the July 1 decision the group posted on social media that the tribunal had given Ryman “lots of clues” about what would be acceptable for the site.
“What ‘might be acceptable’ is significantly smaller than what was proposed, and probably roughly acceptable to most of us,” the group posted.
