Save Sir Reg’s Wedge: Legal fight over Mt Eliza retirement resort plan
Mt Eliza parents fighting a planned retirement resort in their village are running out of time to pay for their day in court.
South East
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Mt Eliza mums and dads are racing the clock to raise enough money to pay for a lawyer to represent them in a David and Goliath battle.
They need at least $50,000 to “have a voice” in an upcoming court appeal lodged by Ryman Health over its bid to build a retirement resort on the former Ansett Estate at 60-70 Kunyung Road.
A planning permit for the proposal was unanimously rejected by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council in July 2020 after 1068 objections were received.
Objectors described the plan as an “industrial scale, multistorey tower complex” that was not appropriate for the site which is alongside Kunyung Primary School and in a green wedge zone.
They have started Save Sir Reg’s Wedge action group and created an online fundraiser to cover their legal fees when they join the council at VCAT next month.
The Koalas Not High Rise appeal has raised $17,000 to date and needs to raise the balance before the VCAT hearing which was due to commences in mid-March.
“We know we are the underdog, but we cannot simply stand back and allow this multinational company to roll in their bulldozers and chainsaws and destroy one of the last remaining green areas beside the bay,” group member Pamela Ross said.
The group said the development would decimate an important koala habitat within the 8.9ha Moondah Estate.
Australian Koala Foundation director Deborah Tabert said there was no doubt the site was critical for Mornington Peninsula koalas.
“All remnant vegetation like this one should be protected. If it isn’t we will lose the koalas,” Ms Tabert said.
Former Mornington Peninsula councillor Leigh Eustace said the fight had to be won on planning grounds.
Mr Eustace said Ryman had added a place of worship to its plan in an attempt to use a planning loophole to get the residential development over the line.
“Moondah Estate is outside the urban growth boundary,” Mr Eustace said.
“In 2003 with the introduction of the Green Wedge planning provisions which prohibited schools, this land was excluded from the Core Green Wedge requirements to allow the existing business school to continue operating.
“That school is no longer there but the special use zone also allows for private sports grounds, religious and health establishments.
“By adding a stand alone place of worship – which is uncommon for Ryman retirement villages – the plan meets the special use requirements.”
He also argued that the site should have lost its special use zone status when the business school closed and the educational use ceased.
A spokeswoman for Ryman said demand for retirement living was growing and the peninsula’s retirement population was tipped to increase by 19 per cent by 2026 and people aged over 65 make up more than 24 per cent of the area’s current population.
“Our facility will cater to those increasing needs,” she said.
“The Mt Eliza community will benefit from the project with the creation of 300 construction jobs, and a further 300 long-term jobs, ranging from nursing and care staff, to hospitality, maintenance, gardening and cleaning staff.”
The Ryman spokeswoman said an ecological assessment of the site found the number of trees which could be a food source for koalas was not enough to support a koala population.
