Anglesea hub plan ticked off in face of community opposition

Surf Coast councillors have voted on a controversial health precinct, which alarmed residents due to the inclusion of affordable housing.

Anglesea Health Hub concept.

Surf Coast Shire has adopted a concept plan for a health hub in Anglesea which includes affordable housing, despite community opposition.

Plans for the Anglesea Community and Health Hub went before the council at its meeting on Tuesday.

According to the report which was presented to council, the hub is “vitally important” for the town.

The site, which is located in the heart of Anglesea on McMillan St, is already home to a number of health facilities, including an Ambulance Victoria building, medical centre, maternal health centre and community health centre.

The plan includes affordable housing for local workers, which council say there is an urgent need for in Anglesea.

The site will remain under council ownership.

Council received 329 letters opposing the inclusion, as well as a petition with 257 signatures.

A community co-design process and broader community engagement period saw 330 survey responses, 36 submissions, and feedback from site user groups received.

Surf Coast Mayor Liz Pattinson said “overall feedback generally supported the vision, design principles and the majority of the proposed elements of the concept plan”.

“There has been a range of views expressed about the inclusion of some affordable rental housing to help address the local key worker accommodation crisis,” Ms Pattinson said,

Deputy Mayor Mike Bodsworth, who moved the motion to approve the project at Tuesday night’s meeting, said “if all the “scary stories” were true, he would be up in arms too.

“But they’re not all based on fact,” he said.

Deputy Mayor, Cr Mike Bodsworth moved the motion on Tuesday night.

He added that only an eighth of the precinct would be housing.

Cr Adrian Schonfelder replied that he thought it was “scary that Anglesea councillors are ignoring their local community”.

He said that housing would prevent any potential growth for the health facilities, create too much traffic and negatively impact people who lived nearby, adding that people neighbouring the site opposed the housing proposal.

Mr Schonfelder voted in favour of having housing on the precinct in the past, but said he had since changed his mind.

Cr Adrian Schonfelder opposed the motion.

Councillor Paul Barker also spoke out against the plan, beginning his speech by simply saying “no”.

“Government, in this case council, while having some contribution from community, has sought to impose a top down approach and dump this plan on the local community without a real understanding of the ramifications of this decision,” Mr Barker said.

“I say no to that.”

The motion passed with six votes in favour against three.

A number of proposed changes were also made in response to community feedback, and according to council, other ideas and suggestions will be considered during the detailed design phase.

An implementation progress report will be presented to council no later than July 2025.

Originally published as Anglesea hub plan ticked off in face of community opposition