Objection to Bungower Road Technology Park in Somerville
Somerville is a rural community, on the Mornington Peninsula, a well-established international tourist destination. With overlays of environmental protection and green belts, acreage and market gardens, Somerville community consists of more than 12,000 residents. It is surrounded by rich agricultural land, which is an important food bowl for the City of Melbourne.
Since 2020, there has been requests by Sealite and a local land owner for a zoning amendment to prime rural land, close to residences. Initially meetings were held at the Somerville Rec Centre. Three sites were identified as being suitable, by the council, with the majority of the residents being in favour of the site, north of Graydens Road, Hastings. Council discussions had discounted the Bungower site as not appropriate for industrial rezoning. They concluded the site in Hastings, for further industrial development as the most sensible., due to being similarly zoned, its proximity to road and rail access, with minimal impact on residential areas.
Council research showed that Mornington Peninsula required another 40 to 60 hectares of industrial land, to fulfill its growth needs over the next 15 years. The Council recommended a site in Hastings which covers 190 ha, to build an industrial/technology Development, which would more than accommodate this. Their research showed they did not require an extra 60 ha of industrial development in Somerville.
In 2023, in spite of Councils research identifying sufficient appropriately zoned land in Hastings, another amendment for rezoning was proposed for the Bungower Road site. The Council received a total of 114 submissions, in the period it was publicly exhibited on the Council website, from30th March 2023 until 12 May 2023. The Somerville community made a considerable effort to respond to Councils proposal, with a resounding 70% of submissions against the amendment. The 30% of respondents in favour of the Technology Park proposal, were primarily concerned about future employment in the area.
The communities concerns are outlined below:
The green wedge spaces and rural aspect were highlighted as an important factor as to why residents chose to live in the area. Many comments stated they did not want to be surrounded by industry, destroying the natural beauty of Somerville. There are number of different highlighted environmental overlays on surrounding properties, reinforcing the environmental significance of the area. The development of this land would upset the natural ecosystem. The local fauna includes, wedge tail eagles, koalas, sugar gliders. Indigenous vegetation was also identified in a previous council inspection. An industrial area would require security lighting at night. This would impact on nocturnal wildlife and nearby stock. Operations would be extremely noisy and the risk of industrial pollution, would lead to contamination of nearby market gardens, an important food bowl for the City of Melbourne. There is a risk that concentrated rainfall runoff into groundwater, may affect the salinity of nearby paddocks, affecting soil fertility and livestock. This runoff could potentially pollute Western Port Bay, which has been identified as an ecologically sensitive Ramsar Wetland.
· Council could benefit from maintaining these green wedge areas for potential revenues from tourism and not for short term gain of leasing contracts for industry. ·
With the current housing shortage, residents are of the opinion this land would be better suited to be made available for residential purposes. The council could take advantage of the low-density rural area, as it is close to town and residents don’t want to be surrounded by industrial estates.
· Respondents are of the opinion that a technology park in both Somerville and Hastings would cause leasing competition, with the potential for neither site being able to run at sufficient capacity for success. There are already significant warehouses for lease in Hastings and Somerville. Industrial areas.
· There is a concern for increased traffic on an already busy Bungower Road. The current proposal would require significant upgrades, as cited in The Transport Commission Report. Since this submission there has been fatalities and accidents along this road. The sight in Graydens Road Hastings, has already been identified as an industrial zoned area, with public buses and rail. Bungower Road does not have public transport. The Head Transport for Victoria has considered the proposal and notes the following:
· “The submitted Transport Impact Assessment Report prepared by Starlec dated 14th April 2022; does not provide sufficient information on the impact of the proposed amendment on the safety and efficacy of the surrounding arterial road network especially Bungower Road /Westernport Highway Intersection and Bungower Road /Frankston Flinders Road intersection
· “The proposed traffic generated by the development towards east (Westernport Hwy)is approximately 2000 vehicles per day and towards west (Frankston Flinders Road and Peninsula Link) is approximately 5000 vehicles. This is considered significant and the submitted report failed to capture the impact of the safety and efficacy of the arterial road network”.
· In the light of the above, the development as per the current proposal cannot adequately or safely be accommodated with the existing road network”
In conclusion, Somerville residents choose to live in a rural precinct. The Somerville community have made considerable effort to respond to this amendment, with a resounding 70% of submissions against the amendment and in favour of the site being located at Graydens Road, Hastings. It is confounding that Council has approved this proposal, given the community they represent, and their own research have concluded that there are alternate areas within a 10-minute drive, suitable for industrial development and employment.
Simone Nash Contact the author of the petition