By Alesha Capone
A proposal for Wyndham council to acquire the front sections of 97 properties in Hoppers Crossing has been quashed after a decade of “angst” for residents.
The council voted to “abandon” the planning scheme amendment, which attracted more than 100 objections, last week.
If the amendment had been adopted, it would have resulted in the council acquiring the front 12 metres of the properties, along sections of Tarneit and Sayers roads under a public acquisition overlay (PAO).
The intention of the amendment was to reserve land for a future service road, amid concerns “about the number of planning permit applications for multi-unit developments in the area, resulting in ad-hoc and sub-optimal vehicle access arrangements”.
A series of planning scheme amendments have been proposed to deal with the problem across the past 10 years, only to be discarded after significant objections from residents.
A report, released at last week’s council meeting, said the estimated cost of acquiring land and building the service road was around $73.5 million.
The report recommended the council not pursue the project “in light of the current economic climate”.
Following this, councillors voted against the acquisition of the land under a PAO for the purposes of a service road.
Instead, an alternative report with advice on strategies for traffic, transport and land use along Tarneit and Sayers roads will be prepared for a future council meeting.
Cr Heather Marcus the PAO has caused affected residents to experience mental health issues and “a great deal of angst” across 10 years.
She said the council needed to undertake extensive community consultation on the matter in the future.
Cr Josh Gilligan said that the council’s latest stance signalled that the PAO process was finally over.
“I think in no uncertain terms, this resolution will send a very clear and strong message that the service road is dead, buried, cremated,” he said.
Other councillors thanked residents who had led a “sustained campaign” against the PAO.
Several councillors, include Cr Susan McIntyre, apologised to residents for the pain that the PAO “has caused in the community and people’s lives”.
