The protected site with water views that developers can’t resist

For more than 20 years, developers have sought to realise their grand aspirations near the muddy shores of Mahers Landing on the Bass Coast, despite repeated knock backs.

The site has long been popular with fishers and boaties hoping for a big catch in the flowing waters of Anderson Inlet.

Inverloch Tourism Association president Glenn Morris and South Gippsland Conservation Society president Ed Thexton want to protect the environmentally sensitive area around Mahers Landing. Credit: Joe Armao

Last month, the Bass Coast Shire rejected the latest application to build a large tourism park.

Despite the rejection, locals fear the development plans for the site are not yet dead in the water and that it’s only a matter of time before a development proposal is successful.

The council decision in June marked the second attempt by the Mering (Inverloch) Corporation to win approval to develop the site, which is five kilometres east of the coastal town of Inverloch.

Prominent property developer and philanthropist Jason Yeap is director of Mering Corporation.

An aerial view of Mahers Landing, where the boat ramp is being upgraded.Credit: Joe Armao

The plan consisted of a camping and caravan park with 144 powered sites, a general store, a retail space, a caretaker’s house, and 50 cabins with one or two bedrooms each. A gallery, restaurant and museum were also included.

But the council officers opposed the $54 million development. The land is considered environmentally significant, subject to inundation, and has significant landscape overlays. It is also within an area of identified cultural heritage sensitivity.

The officers said Mering had not submitted an approved cultural heritage management plan, there was insufficient information, and the proposal was inconsistent with the strategic direction for land use and development in state and local planning policy.

“The site is very low-lying and subject to inundation from both tidal and overland flows,” the officers’ report said. “This is a complex constraint.”

It said the proposal could cause irreversible damage to biodiversity, Aboriginal cultural heritage, landscapes and the floodplain ecosystem.

The report also said the proposal for the 251.5-hectare site provided no net benefit to the community. However, the council documents noted the proposal was underpinned by a “conceptual re-wilding” in which there would be restoration in some areas of mangrove, salt marsh and supratidal forest.

The Mering Corporation did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The site has a history of raising but ultimately thwarting the ambitions of developers. In 2020, The Age reported that developer John Woodman was helping to steer a previous proposal for a tourism development and marina at Mahers Landing before the Bass Coast Shire rejected it.

Mahers Landing is near the coastal town of Inverloch, which is popular with holidaymakers. Credit: Penny Stephens

That $380 million proposal included a residential lot and 200-boat marina. Woodman has previously been investigated by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) for his dealings with councillors and state MPs on planning decisions made in the City of Casey in Melbourne’s south-east.

Woodman’s association with that project reportedly ceased following IBAC hearings into his conduct. There is no suggestion he was involved in the most recent proposal at Mahers Landing.

In 2003, the state government rejected plans from another company to develop a golf course resort at the site.

Inverloch Tourism Association president Glenn Morris, who moved permanently to the town two years ago but has had a holiday house there for two decades, said Mahers Landing was the wrong place for development.

The muddy flats near Mahers Landing. Credit: Joe Armao

He agreed Inverloch needed more accommodation for holidaymakers, but not at the expense of environmentally sensitive sites. However, Morris said Mahers Landing offered a rare waterfront location and developers would just keep trying.

“I do feel there’s going to be ongoing pressure to do something on that site,” he said. “There will always be someone who sees an opportunity.”

Morris said there was enough space within the town’s existing residential areas to accommodate more development without eating into the surrounding environment.

South Gippsland Conservation Society president Ed Thexton said the inlet provided crucial habitat for bird species, including the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot and migratory birds.

“They all come back here to feed at one stage in their lifecycle,” he said.

Thexton said much of South Gippsland had been cleared for farming, so any development needed to ensure the local ecology was protected.

However, former state Liberal MP for the area Bryan Paynter said he had supported Yeap’s previous proposal for Mahers Landing.

“I think a development out of town would be fantastic,” Paynter said. “It would provide alternative types of accommodation. I thought it had merit.”

Paynter said that during his term in the Victorian parliament between 2014 and 2018, Yeap had been “sympathetic” to the natural environment.

“That impressed me.”

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