VivaLife’s plans for an over 50s residential lifestyle village at Kyneton have come to a halt following rejection at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The proposal was to develop 12.37 hectares of Rural Living land at Edgecombe Road for 172 independent living units with associated communal facilities.
Plans saw opposition from both community and council for inconsistency with planning policies, inappropriate format and character, and last week VCAT ruled in their favour.
“In essence, while we accept there is a need for additional residential development in the region and Kyneton, and some of this need will be for people aged over 50, this need does not outweigh the extensive and significant township level strategic planning for Kyneton,” the VCAT members said.
“To approve this proposal outside the recognised and established ‘protected settlement boundary’ and ‘township boundary’ would not be an acceptable or orderly planning outcome.”
The application landed at VCAT following Macedon Ranges Shire Council’s failure to determine within the prescribed timeframe.
Plans show the development was for part of the land at 106 Edgecombe Road and 3 Baynton Road and would be completed in six to seven stages. It is nearby land being developed for housing, Bunnings, McDonalds and a service station.
MRSC submitted to the hearing it would have rejected VivaLife’s proposal, stating the site was not in a location that strategically supports a residential village, and that the proposal will have long lasting adverse effects on the strategic vision for Kyneton.
Accessibility to the township and essential services from the proposed village was also a consideration in VCAT’s ruling.
The VCAT members said “in many ways the site superficially appears attractive for the proposed use” but concluded it was not the right location for such a development.
“It is no accident that Kyneton has a clearly defined township boundary and broader protected settlement boundary,” they said.
“In our view it would be a step too far, and not an acceptable planning outcome, to approve an isolated and intensive residential development on this site, remote from the Kyneton town centre.”
Community lobby group Keep Kyneton Country members were among the key objectors to the propoasl.
KKC team leader Karan Hayman said the group was “overjoyed with the result”.
“Hopefully some precedents have now been set to protect our townships boundary and MRSC planning schemes,” she said.
“Massive development is still planned for the south of Kyneton and our township boundaries extended, even though the infrastructure we need is not yet in place.”
