A CLOUD of uncertainty has been lifted from a further 312 properties in Wonthaggi’s troubled north-east residential growth area.
Last Friday, June 28, Bass Coast Shire Council advised that the first tranche of 291 properties assessed by its environmental contractor PRENSA had been given the all clear with more to follow.
A further 21 properties in Stage 7 of the Parklands Estate have also been cleared by the developer’s contractor of any contamination risk.
Homeowners in Cavil Drive in the Summerfields Estate, George and Anastasia Parlamentas, were unaware their property had passed its environmental assessment but were nonetheless pleased and relieved.
“Really? We knew nothing about it. Are they going to send us out a notice to tell us?” asked George Parlamentas.
“We bought this block in 2018 and built soon after that. It’s just a crazy situation,” he said of the imposition of the environmental overlays.
“But yes, it’s a relief. It just proves it never should have happened in the first place,” said Anastasia.
“I knew there was no contamination. My garden is thriving,” she said.
“My concern now is what impact this will have on Wonthaggi generally and the people who might have looked at coming here,” said Mr Parlamentas.
Preliminary Risk Screen Assessment (PRSA) screens were required after the Victorian Planning Authority retrospectively applied highly restrictive planning overlays to the titles of 627 properties in Wonthaggi’s North-East development precinct on January 18, 2024, many of them well-established home sites that had already passed through all of the planning and building approvals necessary as many as five years ago or more.
Having acknowledged the mistake by her actions, if not by her words, the Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny has undertaken to introduce separate amendments to the Bass Coast Shire Planning Scheme every time a new tranche of cleared properties comes forward.
The shire says it might take as much as two weeks to have the offending Environmental Audit Overlays (EAOs) removed from titles, but it could come as early as this coming week.
Bass MP Jordan Crugnale has assured those impacted by the unfair imposition of EAOs by the government that the blight on titles will be removed as soon as possible.
“Next week, PRENSA will provide the report for the remaining properties in the balance of Parklands and Powlett Ridge.
I will continue to work to expedite the planning scheme amendment for this tranche and any cleared thereafter,” Ms Crugnale said on social media last Friday.
Bass Coast CEO Greg Box issued a statement last week about the latest round of assessments, with a map detailing the affected properties and again thanking residents for their patience.
If you have any questions, contact the shire’s planning team at planningapplications@basscoast.vic.gov.au or 5671 2211 during business hours.
