Golden Plains first mayor speaks out about ECEC service refusal

Golden Plains Shire’s first mayor Des Phelan has spoken out about the municipality’s recent refusal to grant planning permits for two new early childhood services for Bannockburn saying the council should “stick to their planning scheme.”

 

Mr Phelan saw the adoption of the planning scheme during his term, and held a position as councillor for around 40 years, and expressed his disappointment and frustration about the recent veto of two services in the community, despite both proposals meeting the Shire’s planning scheme requirements.

 

One service was proposed for 25 Burns Street Bannockburn, with the other for 21 Milton Street. 

 

“The mayor gave his casting vote against the planning scheme he should be upholding,” Mr Phelan shared with local news source Golden Plains Times.

 

“Go back to 1996, 97. Before the restructure, there were no planning schemes in Victoria and rural municipalities and everyone planned on an IDO [intra development order],” he explained.

 

“I was the first mayor of Golden Plains Shire and Rob MacLellan was the Minister for Planning at the time. The mayors and CEOS of rural Victoria went to have a chat with him and we instigated a planning scheme.”

 

“He said ‘you adopt your planning scheme, and you plan to it.’ The rulebook’s the rulebook. The mayor’s gone against his own planners which is poor planning and local government.”

 

“If you’ve got a scheme, plan to it. They’ve probably had only two or three amendments since it was instigated in Golden Plains.”

 

During the meeting to determine whether the developments could go ahead sitting councillors expressed concerns regarding the sites’ unsuitability as well as potential issues with parking and amenity as cause for their voting against.

 

Councillors were divided, with the Burns Street application refusal coming down to the casting vote of the chair. 

 

For Mr Phelan, this was a frustrating outcome.  

 

“Childcare centres seem to me to be the thing of the present and the future, and everybody needs them,” he said.

 

“If you’re going to establish a municipality and have facilities for people to use so they can go to work, it’s paramount.”

 

The Council’s interim CEO Michael Tudball said both refusals have since been repealed. 

 

“Since the meeting, I have received two notices of motion to rescind or amend the decisions made at the meeting from councillors,” he said.

 

“In alignment with council’s governance rules, the notice of decision to refuse the applications as resolved at the council meeting will not be issued at this time.”

 

The notices of motion to rescind or amend the decisions were listed for the next ordinary council meeting on 23 July at The Well in Smythesdale, with the outcomes from the meeting not yet publicly available. 

 

Access the original coverage of this story here. Image credit: John Englart. Original image source.