VCAT upholds council’s decision to deny permit for Connewarre children’s zoo and restaurant

Plans for a children’s farm, function centre and restaurant on a farming property in Connewarre have gone before the state’s planning umpire.

Plans for a children’s farm, restaurant and function centre in Connewarre have been cast aside by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Picture: iStock.

Plans for a children’s farm, function centre and restaurant on the Bellarine have collapsed, with the state’s planning umpire upholding a decision by City Hall to reject the application.

The 65-105 Lings Rd site in Connewarre, just west of Barwon Heads, would have featured a children’s farm for up to 40 people that would operate seven days a week, along with an associated restaurant with a capacity of 80.

A function centre with a capacity of 160 people was also included, which would have operated four nights a week from Thursday to Sunday and would have been located in a refurbished machinery shed.

A shearing shed would be completely dismantled, moved and rebuilt to form the restaurant.

Victoria’s Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) last week sided with Geelong council in denying the application.

The application went through three rounds of public notification, during which 150 objections were lodged, raising concerns such as noise, increased traffic on Lings Rd and environmental and agricultural impacts such as dust.

The site of the proposal on Lings Rd, Connewarre, is currently used for grazing. Picture: Google.

An application regarding the 22ha site was first lodged with the city in 2018, before being amended in June 2020 and released again for comment in July 2022.

Councillors rejected the proposal in November 2022 – despite planning officers recommending they grant a permit – on the grounds it was not suitable under the farming zone and “would compromise the agricultural productivity of the land”.

Mayor Trent Sullivan said council considered community feedback and the officer’s report.

“The planning committee found that the proposed development would compromise Connewarre’s rural character and result in potential detrimental environmental impacts to the nearby Murtnaghurt Lagoon,” he said in 2022.

Applicant Penelope Collins took the matter to VCAT, arguing it was an example of “responsible tourism”.

However, tribunal member Michael Deidun concluded the proposal would have “unreasonable impacts” on its surrounds.

Mr Deidun said the proposal would cause “unacceptable acoustic impacts” on the nearby Thirteenth Beach Golf Links Estate.

Under the proposal, acoustic fencing between 2.5m and 2.8m tall would be installed.

In addition, Mr Deidun wrote that the anticipated traffic, which ranged up to 350 additional vehicles, would require the sealing of Lings Rd, a measure which the applicant “resisted”.

Mr Deidun said the ultimate shortcoming of the proposal was deciding to situate the dwellings close to Lings Rd, the estate and Murtnaghurt Lagoon.

“This is despite the fact that other locations are available on the review site which could have provided greater setbacks … reducing the off-site impacts and providing a greater separation,” he wrote, adding that since the shearing shed was to be dismantled and moved, so could the machinery shed.

Geelong Field and Game Inc also opposed the proposal, concerned about potential impacts to the Murtnaghurt Lagoon and State Game Reserve, which borders the site to the south.

Originally published as VCAT upholds council’s decision to deny permit for Connewarre children’s zoo and restaurant