Elsie Lange
Macedon Ranges council has been warned a proposed protected settlement boundary at Gisborne may be insufficient to protect the historic Gisborne township from overdevelopment.
The council is creating the Gisborne Futures plan, which it says will provide an updated vision for how the town “will grow and develop into the future”, while setting a “long term protected settlement boundary” aimed at safeguarding the character and environment of the area.
But a consultation report handed to council showed the overwhelming majority of submissions were “concerned with the level of growth proposed or were opposed to further township expansion”.
The officers’ recommendation presented at a meeting on Wednesday, August 24, suggested council endorse the report, however councillor Rob Guthrie presented an alternate motion to “note” the report because he was “not happy with a couple of aspects of it”.
“I think we need to do a lot more work. At this stage, without knowing the recent census figures, it’s very difficult to endorse it,” Cr Guthrie said.
The report said submitters “questioned the need for Gisborne to grow, and raised the need to update demographic and land demand and supply data”.
According to the report, primary concerns included a loss of street and environmental character, that Gisborne did not have the social or physical infrastructure to support growth and additional traffic congestion, among other issues.
Though fewer in number, other submitters supported the plan and further growth for Gisborne.
Asked where growth should be prioritised, the overwhelming majority (75 per cent) said Gisborne East (Glen Junor).
That was followed by 13 per cent who said New Gisborne, north of the railway line, and 6 per cent who selected New Gisborne, east of the business park.
In response to the concerns raised during consultation, council said in the report that Gisborne had been “identified in state and local policies as a regional centre that is promoted for growth”.
