Drysdale rezoning allows 550-house development, couple to lose house to acquisition

A Drysdale couple has lost their fight to save their house from being bulldozed to make way for a lucrative residential development.

A Drysdale couple has lost their fight to save their house from being bulldozed to make way for a lucrative residential development, after the state government approved the rezoning of 28 Drysdale properties to make way for a 550-house estate.

The Victorian Planning Minister this week approved a City of Greater Geelong planning scheme amendment rezoning the 416,000 sq m land parcel from rural living to general residential – allowing developers to build the highly-lucrative residential estate.

The approval – which was made with “minor wording changes” – also sealed the fate of Glenda MacNaughton and Patrick Hughes’ Wyndham St home of 11 years, which had been earmarked for acquisition to be demolished and replaced with a drainage reserve and public open space.

De facto couple Glenda MacNaughton and Patrick Hughes at their Wyndham St home of 11 years, which will be demolished to make way for drainage and some open space. Picture: Peter Ristevski

While the land may not be needed for many years to come, the couple will now prepare to have their house acquired by the City of Greater Geelong either compulsorily or through negotiation.

Mr Hughes on Tuesday expressed his disappointment with the approval of the planning scheme amendment.

“It’s a great shame for the area as a whole, and we think it means the loss of a distinctive area in Drysdale,” he said.

“It will be a great disappointment to the many dozens of local people who campaigned to stop it.”

Mr Hughes and Ms MacNaughton had unsuccessfully argued their land wasn’t needed for the drainage reserve, citing a May 2019 Stormwater Management Plan report that found “careful design of the retarding basin upstream of Jetty Rd should permit for the existing dwelling to be maintained”.

The rezoned land where 550 houses will be installed. Glenda MacNaughton and Patrick Hughes live in the house at the bottom left of picture.. Picture: Alan Barber

The couple operate a glass art studio from their property, which includes a carefully manicured and decorated yard.

The planning scheme amendment to allow for the residential development faced both community and councillor opposition on its passage to the Planning Minister’s desk.

The city received 76 written submissions concerning the plan in late 2019, including 65 objections, prompting the council group to call on an independent panel to advise the best course of action.

The panel recommended the planning scheme amendment be adopted, with a trio of councillors unsuccessfully voting against the planning scheme amendment.

“The community is quite right in its observation that the structure plan doesn’t seem to reflect the intensive development that has occurred in Drysdale in the past 10 years,” Mayor Stephanie Asher said last year.

“This is one of those grey areas where the policy, the timeliness and the processes aren’t quite aligning with community expectation.”

Originally published as Drysdale rezoning allows 550-house development, couple to lose house to acquisition