Aged care cafe headed to VCAT

By Laura Michell

A proposal to allow a cafe associated with a new Werribee aged care centre to open its doors to the public is headed to the state’s planning tribunal after Wyndham council failed to make a decision within the required timeframe.

Arcare applied to council for a permit to allow the cafe associated with its facility on Newmarket Road to operate as a stand alone food and drink premises and cater to the public, aged care facility staff, residents and visitors.

Council failed to make a decision on the application within the prescribed 60-day timeframe, prompting Arcare to lodge an appeal with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).

A hearing is scheduled for July 15 and 16.

As part of the VCAT process, council was required to tell the tribunal what its decision would have been had it been able to rule on the application.

A report to a council planning committee meeting on Monday, June 10, recommended council notify VCAT that it would have refused the application.

Councillors instead voted to tell the tribunal that it would support the cafe being open to the public.

Council officers had advised that the proposal did not meet the intent of the Riverwalk Estate Development Plan as a food and drinks premises should be located within the approved commercially-zoned town centre to the west of the Arcare site.

Cr Josh Gilligan said council should not discourage these types of applications.

“I do put on the record, it is concerning from a town planning guidelines and principles perspective that we are seeking to discourage commercial uses just because a town centre is within the vicinity of a subject site,” he said.

Cr Shannon McGuire said opening the cafe to the community was a good idea and would “add to the area”.

“I think the benefits of something like this would be the people living in the facility would be better connected to the community,” he said.

Arcare property chief executive Michael Carnell addressed the council meeting and said Arcare’s cafes help to reduce isolation, support mental health and help build community.

“[The cafe will] make a big difference to how the community connects with our facility,” he said.