MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire is contesting Ryman Healthcare’s Supreme Court appeal against aspects of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal’s decision to refuse a permit for an aged care centre in Mount Eliza.
The appeal relates to whether VCAT correctly interpreted relevant sections of the shire’s planning scheme, including provisions of the special use zone and the inter-urban break, when assessing the development in Kunyung Road.
Ryman last month said the appeal would review how a point of planning law was interpreted by VCAT (“Ryman redraws plans for second permit bid” The News 9/8/21).
Victoria development manager David Laing said at the time the appeal would “have no bearing on how the new permit application [to the council] will be considered”.
“We obviously have a long-term interest in this site so just want to make sure that the correct policy and planning framework is applied to it, now and into the future,” he said.
The shire last week said it welcomed VCAT’s July decision to refuse the company a permit “on the basis that a large-scale residential aged care facility and/or retirement village, on land that lies outside the urban growth boundary, is inappropriate and at odds with the amenity of the surrounding green wedge”, planning and infrastructure director Mike McIntosh said.
The hearing at the Supreme Court is expected in the latter half of 2022.
Ryman’s latest application for the aged care centre has been amended in response to commentary in the VCAT decision, with Mr Laing saying the “new permit application … responds directly to VCAT’s guidance”.
Mr McIntosh said the new application “will not affect the Supreme Court appeal nor will the appeal have any bearing on how the shire deals with the new application”.
First published in the Mornington News – 7 September 2021
