Council set to reject $380m Gippsland marina linked to John Woodman
A $380 million marina development proposed for a fragile Gippsland inlet that was until recently fronted by allegedly corrupt planning consultant John Woodman will likely be jettisoned by Bass Coast Shire on Wednesday.
The planned 1000-plus residential lot and 200-boat marina at Mahers Landing at Anderson inlet is the latest project linked with Mr Woodman to face rejection since Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog heard explosive revelations from November to March of his central role in allegedly crooked land deals centred at the City of Casey.
Property developer Jason Yeap at his Collins Street office in MelbourneCredit:Darrian Traynor
Until late last year Mr Woodman was helping to steer the contentious "Mahers Landing Village" plan, which was to have been built to the east of Inverloch, on behalf of Liberal activist and fundraiser Jason Yeap's Mering Corporation.
Mr Woodman’s association with the Gippsland scheme ceased after the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission heard evidence of his elaborate strategies for winning lucrative planning approvals at Casey, including allegedly corrupt payments of almost $1.2 million to two councillors and the showering of councillors and state candidates with cash and gifts.
But while Mr Woodman’s role with the planned marina has contributed to its likely rejection by Bass Coast councillors, it was always going to struggle to win approval on planning and environmental grounds.
The scheme was well outside Inverloch's urban boundary and required local and state government-approval for rezoning of farmland.
Bass Coast shire planners have recommended councillors reject the rezoning of 253 hectares of land because it is at odds with local, regional and state planning policies and “represents an inappropriate intrusion onto the fragile coastal environment”.
Senior state government insiders say the project had no chance of winning approval from Planning Minister, Richard Wynne.
The likely rejection of the marina by councillors, who will vote on the matter on Wednesday morning, is a major blow to Mr Yeap, who had purchased farmland for the development.
Mering had argued the project would make an important contribution to the regional economy through the generation of up to 1000 full time jobs and a potential $9.2 million to the Victorian economy.
Neither Mr Yeap nor Mering have responded to calls from The Age.
Mering’s marina scheme is the second earmarked for Mahers Landing opposed by the local South Gippsland Conservation Society.
A similar project on the same site was proposed by golf course and housing developer the Links Group, but was refused by then-planning minister Mary Delahunty in the mid-2000s.
Society spokesperson Dave Sutton said residents were hopeful the council would oppose the Mering scheme at its meeting on Wednesday.
He said Mahers Landing was used by migratory wading birds, and was subject to coastal erosion and sea level rise.
The Australian Conservation Foundation has also urged the council to reject the marina scheme, saying development and dredging would irreversibly damage the feeding and breeding habitat of many threatened species and healthy fish populations.
“Australia is in the midst of an extinction crisis,” said ACF spokesperson Jess Abrahams. “This is the very opposite of the kind of sensitive urban design we need if people and wildlife are to live sustainably side by side.”
In November The Age revealed details of Mr Woodman’s lobbying for federal and Victorian government support for a multibillion-dollar, carbon-neutral satellite city at Little River, south-west of Melbourne on land owned by Malaysian tile mogul John Chua.
After the revelations by The Age and IBAC, Mr Chua insisted the Little River idea was a "preliminary study". It now appears to have been shelved.
Bass Coast council will decide the fate of the Mahers Landing proposal on Wednesday morning.
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