Lara caravan park gets go-ahead as Geelong council committee again overrules planners

Geelong councillors have overruled planning officers for the fifth consecutive time, approving a $10m-plus project that will become the first of its kind in the northern suburbs.

A renders of one of the proposed cabins. Picture: Supplied.

Geelong council’s planning committee has again ignored the advice of city planning officers, this time by approving a $10m-plus northern suburbs caravan park.

Officers recommended the committee reject the proposal for 48 caravan and 14 tent sites, as well as 56 cabins ranging from one to three bedrooms, at 325 Forest Rd North in Lara.

Officers found the application was inconsistent with a structure plan that sought to maintain farming uses and rural landscape settings north of the Lara settlement boundary.

But at the Thursday night meeting, the seven-member committee unanimously supported an alternative motion that called for a planning permit to be granted.

That motion was put forward by Anthony Aitken and seconded by You Yangs ward councillor Chris Burson.

Both said local knowledge helped inform their position and the project would bring “net community benefit”.

The proposed park is spread across 16ha. Picture: Supplied

Mr Aitken acknowledged the professionalism of city officers, but said councillors were able to “consider much more broadly than what officers can in terms of reaching a balanced decision”.

“That’s actually why we have this planning process in Victoria, in Geelong, that officers do just make recommendations to the councillors, but councillors can assess other strategic plans, local knowledge, and other nuances to reach the conclusions that they do make,” he said.

It is the fifth consecutive instance of the committee going against the recommendation of officers.

Lara Care Group president Barry White told the committee the proposal from Dean and Alisa Hinch had the support of the organisation.

That support carried significant weight, according to Mr Aitken and Mr Burson.

“If any organisation in Lara, or individuals, were going to be objecting on environmental grounds it would have been the Lara Cara Group, but they have presented that they are an extremely strong supporter of this proposal,” Mr Aitken said.

Dean and Alisa Hinch, with children Eric and Max, and Brett Couzens and Louise Curtis at the proposed site of a caravan park in Lara at 325 Forest Rd North in Lara. Picture: Alison Wynd.

The 16ha site, which sits within a farming zone between Serendip Sanctuary and You Yangs Regional Park, will become the first caravan park in the northern suburbs of Geelong.

It is hoped that visitors will turn day trips into overnight stays, with the benefit to flow to local businesses, some of which submitted letters of support.

Mr Hinch thanked the Lara Care Group for its support, and Mr Aitken and Mr Burson for visiting the site prior to the meeting.

“We are happy with the outcome,” Mr Hinch said.

“It’s been a very long and expensive process …(it’s) still sinking in that we might actually be able to build it.”

Mayor Stretch Kontelj said the caravan park was needed in the growing area and the decision showed Geelong was “open for business”.

“The Avalon precinct is going to become the engine room not only for Geelong, but for Victoria, and accommodation is going to be sorely needed in the area,” he said.

Eddy Kontelj encouraged the Hinchs to be “a great neighbour of the farming community”.

“I think it would be looked upon really dimly if at the first opportunity there were requests to restrict (the) operation of the current farming community in that area,” he said.

EARLIER: Fate of northern suburbs caravan park to be known soon

The future of an accommodation offering near two nature-based tourist attractions in Geelong’s north will be decided this week when City Hall’s planning committee meets for the final time in 2025.

The $10m-plus proposal put forward by Dean and Alisa Hinch for 325 Forest Rd North in Lara includes 56 cabins, ranging from one to three bedrooms.

There would also be 48 caravan and 14 tent sites spread across the 16ha site that sits within a farming zone between Serendip Sanctuary and You Yangs Regional Park.

A reception building would be home to a general store, while other infrastructure would include a manager’s dwelling, camp kitchens, barbecue shelters and storage buildings.

The planning committee, chaired by Andrew Katos, will on Thursday night hear that the project received 15 letters of support and 12 objections during a public consultation period in September last year.

Concerns cited by objectors included an increase in traffic, impacts to the rural character of the area, and issues relating to drainage and flooding.

While Parks Victoria did not object, it raised the potential for additional inflows of stormwater that may affect the ecology of Serendip Sanctuary.

Supporters mostly highlighted the flow-on benefits to small businesses in Lara.

Dean and Alisa Hinch, with children Eric and Max, and Brett Couzens and Louise Curtis at the proposed site of a caravan park in Lara at 325 Forest Rd North in Lara. Picture: Alison Wynd.

Mr Hinch said the park would fill a short-term accommodation gap in the area and was backed by the Lara Care Group.

“It’s really important because it’s something that’s been missing for so long, and we’ve been arguing for quite a long time to have appropriate short-term accommodation and RV (recreational vehicle) accommodation, and that’s exactly what this proposal brings,” the group’s president Barry White said.

However, council officers have recommended the committee reject the application, with its civil infrastructure and environment departments against the proposal.

“The application is inconsistent with Lara structure plan which seeks to maintain farming uses and rural landscape settings, north of the Lara settlement boundary,” council documents state.

Mr Hinch said he would take the matter to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal if the committee knocked back the proposal.

The park would be spread across 16ha. Picture: Supplied.

At the previous four planning committee meetings, councillors have gone against the recommendation put to them by officers.

After his three-storey, 21-apartment Barrabool Rd project was rejected in April, developer James Morphy called for the committee to be disbanded.

“Something needs to change because the local council tells you what to do, the planning rules tell you what to do, we complied with everything and they still knock you back … it makes you question the entire process,” he said.

Originally published as Lara caravan park gets go-ahead as Geelong council committee again overrules planners