“This is an absolute joke": South Gippsland councillors' heated debate on Fish Creek motel development

A Fish Creek property owner's bid to build tourist cabins in a farming zone sparked a 30-minute debate during the latest meeting of South Gippsland council, with councillor Scott Rae declaring it would be “a sad day for the agricultural community” if the development was approved.

The proposed development was for the construction of five, two-bedroom dwellings on a 3.2 hectare block at 252 Soldiers Road, Fish Creek for short-term accommodation of up to 30 people.

The council officers recommended approving the development with conditions but councillor Rae moved an alternative motion to reject the planning application entirely, arguing it would set "a very detrimental precedent" for small farm zone blocks.

Rae questioned why group accommodation should go "in the middle of a farming zone" when "we have hundreds and hundreds of parcels of land in this Shire suitable for a motel".

Councillor John Kennedy spoke in favour of the development saying “due to a lack of accommodation in South Gippsland, I think it has got merit”.

Kennedy said for the last 30 years there had been “developments that come along and want to do things and they’re being knocked on the head.

“Not often does someone come along with money and want to do developments.”

The council voted to reject Rae's alternate motion to nix the planning application, with four in favour and five against. 

But wait, there’s more

As the council would end up with a $20,000 VCAT bill if they didn’t make a final decision on allowing the group accommodation in Fish Creek, councillors then moved to debate whether to approve the development.

Hearing his motion had been rejected Rae said "what a sad day for the agricultural community this is. I hope this doesn’t open the flood gates”.

He labelled the potential for the development to go ahead “a horrible mistake”.

Councillor Hersey gave a scathing address of how the council was approaching farm zones. 

“There is so much wrong with this direction in approving something that is not in line with the intended purpose,” said Hersey. “If you don’t like the zoning we need to have a conversation and change the zone.

“This is an absolute joke of a way to run an organisation from a strategic perspective.”

Councillor Clare Williams tried to assuage their concerns, noting there are over 45 conditions that the development would need to meet in order to go ahead.

Williams highlighted the economic benefits. 

“There’s 4,000 businesses in South Gippsland that we need to support, can we do it alone? No, we need the help of the 1.2 million visitors that are coming to our area but right now I could count the amount of accommodation on two hands.”

After over 30-minutes of debate, councillor Sarah Gilligan changed her mind and decided to vote against the development, making the final vote 5-4 against.