Farmers dismay after Bass amendment approved

BASS Coast Shire councillors were largely in favour of rezoning land at Bass which could see a 50-lot subdivision developed, much to the disappointment of resident farmers.

The shire prepared Amendment C162basc to the Bass Coast Planning Scheme, which was on public exhibition earlier this year, and will now see land rezoned from Farming Zone to Low Density Residential Zone at Bass Road, Bass, with the amendment to be submitted to the Minister for Planning for approval.

The land is located at the south-east of the intersection of Statter Mission Road and Bass Road.

Following public submissions, the shire requested the appointment of a Planning Panel to refer the unresolved submissions to the Independent Panel (through Planning Panels Victoria).

After a two-day public hearing on April 20 and 21, 2023 at the Bass Coast Shire Chambers, the panel came back with a report supporting a change of zoning to Low Density Residential Zone.
“The Panel finds the proposed rezoning is strategically justified. The subject land, and land to the east, is located within the Bass settlement boundary and marked as a short-term, low density residential opportunity.

“This formed part of the approval of Bass Coast Planning Scheme Amendment C93 in 2012 that introduced the Bass Coastal Strategic Framework.

“There is a current shire-wide lack of supply, and increased demand, for low density residential lots. The Bass Coast Residential Market Supply and Demand Assessment 2022 prepared by Urban Enterprise established there was a need for additional supply to meet this demand.

“The land is generally free from environmental and locational constraints, apart from flooding which is caused by poor drainage on the land and its broader surrounds, known as the Bass Flats. There are no statutory controls reflecting this and the flood plain manager, Melbourne Water, supported the Amendment.

“The Panel finds that, subject to a Stormwater Management Plan, the low density residential development of the land will enable formal drainage infrastructure to be constructed that can collect, retard and convey stormwater to a discharge point to the Bass River.

“The Panel finds that with its inland coastal location, the land will not be impacted by sea level rise or storm surge impacts.”

Speaking at last week’s council meeting, Cr Clare Le Serve highlighted the decision was only to rezone the land.

“It is within the town’s boundary, and it has been marked for short term, low residential opportunities,” she said.

“The planning process for future subdivisions will enable people to have a look at the designs, the details for the designs, the drainage and land capacity, traffic and lot size.

“It will also cover, at another stage, the flooding and drainage issues that people have raised with us.
“But that’s not what we’re here for today.”

However, for Bass farmers Lorraine Ingbritsen and Katrina Neesham, they were left deeply disappointed by council’s decision and believe their concerns were not seriously considered.

They had also submitted a petition to the council meeting, which had just over 100 signatures, which stated, ‘the town is in danger of losing its prime agricultural land. We do not want to see our farmland swallowed up by low density housing developments as we need to protect it for our future generations to come.’

“They should have come out to Bass and seen all the water (last week),” Lorraine said following the shire’s vote.

“Bass is not like other towns in the shire, it’s a river flat, it has a tidal river running through it.”

They continue to raise concern that the town’s infrastructure will not cope with the proposed subdivision and fear it could set a precedent for other developers.

“Any new homes will be on floodplains with no sewerage beside septic, poor road infrastructure, and persistent flooding issues,” they said.

The farmers highlighted they will now appeal to the Minister for Planning and vowed to fight on.

Before council’s decision, the owner of the land Alan McDonald was pleased to see the change finally proceeding saying, “The critical point to make is that there is a need for larger, rural-residential blocks in Bass Coast and the development won’t change the character of the town and the surrounding area.”