AN application for a $48 million dollar “action sports” centre on 80 hectares of green wedge land in Boneo has been submitted to Mornington Peninsula Council.
The proposal is to amend the permit for a camping and horse-riding business, previously known as Ace-Hi, then The Ranch, which has been operating for the past 40 years.
It is believed the revamped facility at 810 Boneo Road will accommodate up to 700 people at a time – close to double what is currently permitted – with plans for a wake boarding dam, artificial snow, a skateboard park, convention centre, seven-day liquor licence (until 9pm) and 105 dwellings.
While some peninsula residents say it will be the “Gumbuya World of the peninsula”, bringing in money for local businesses, others are not happy with it being built in the green wedge.
Community group Friends of Cape Schanck say the development is “at odds with the spirit of the green wedge zoning in which the property lies, surrounded by broad acre grazing farm land and market gardens”.
FOCS is currently seeking councillors’ opinions on the application.
Neighbour Simon Stuart believes the development will change the character of the area and weaken green wedge protections.
“The development in this green wedge location will cause unreasonable visual impacts on public and private land, off-site amenity impacts, a detrimental impact on the environment and impacts on traffic,” he said.
Stuart said that despite the cost, physical size and environmental footprint of the development will be one of the largest on the peninsula, there has been “no community consultation whatsoever”.
“The first and only notification was sent to neighbours last week. An inquiry to the council yielded the response that ‘nothing proposed is prohibited by the zoning of the land’,” he said.
“The fact that the application was lodged during winter school holidays, when many neighbours are away, has not been lost upon us.
“The green wedge is unparalleled in its beauty, with the zoning designed to preserve this beauty in perpetuity for current and future generations. Should this development proceed, an irreversible precedent will be set.”
While The Ranch owners could not be contacted, they have posted on social media that they are “providing a safe, nurturing and inspiring” facility for the community, and a pathway for progression for “our budding athletes who currently have nowhere to train”.
They also hope to provide year-round employment and “environmental, social and economic benefits”.
Details: mornpen.vic.gov.au/Advertised-Planning-Applications/P040289.03-810-Boneo-Road
Submissions close on Thursday (13 July).
First published in the Mornington News – 11th July 2023
