Macedon Ranges council will support a new childcare centre proposed in Woodend at an upcoming Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) hearing.
During the 22 October council meeting, councillors voted on whether or not to support the planning application for 23 Buckland Street, Woodend, a residential zoned area.
The planning application was originally submitted to council, however the applicant lodged an appeal with VCAT due to council’s failure to grant a permit within the prescribed timeframe.
VCAT is now the decision maker on the application.
Cr Janet Pearce supported the application with some changes.
“I think it addresses the needs of the community and the adverse impacts that have been raised have been addressed,” she said.
During council’s process when accessing the application, there were six objectors to the proposal, with the objectors and applicant meeting with council planning staff for a planning consultation meeting to discuss concerns.
Cr Jennifer Anderson welcomed the meeting.
“The locals do know their local area the best. They are not traffic engineers, they’re not acoustic specialists, but they do know their local area,” she said.
“There are still some concerns raised for me, even though we’ve had reports from experts and it says it complies … it is really important to consider that locals often do know things best.”
While she has concerns, Cr Anderson welcomes the idea of the proposal.
“I’m not opposed to childcare on the site. It is allowable in a residential zone, and it is probably an excellent place to put the childcare,” she said.
“The applicant has said we’ve got the school nearby … so there’s a lot of advantages to this site, but the concerns are that locals often know things better than an applicant or some of these experts.”
Council said residents were concerned with the location within a residential area, increased traffic, noise, car parking, lack of landscaping, actuary of the traffic report and the acoustic report, impact on stormwater management and more.
The motion passed, with six councillors in support, while Crs Anderson, Rob Guthrie and Alison Joseph voted against.
