By Cam Lucadou-Wells
John Foy may be inconvenienced but the community gets a “clear net” benefit from acquiring the 78-year-old property owner’s land in Narre Warren North, Casey council argues.
“Mr Foy will see it as a disbenefit to him,” Casey’s lawyer John Rantino told a Planning Panels Victoria hearing on 1 December.
“We accept that … but ultimately that’s what the compensation provisions are there for.”
He said taking all of Mr Foy’s 34-acre property at 191-195 Belgrave-Hallam Road was “no more in size and location than is reasonably required” for the council’s purposes.
“This is not some premature, ill-considered application of a public acquisition overlay,” Mr Rantino said.
The public acquisition overlay was also backed by “strategic justification”, the hearing at Casey Civic Centre heard.
Casey’s plans for the site are three soccer fields with 190 parking spaces, a pavilion and ecologically-beneficial wetlands.
It also includes building the “missing link” in a trail between Frog Hollow Reserve and Lysterfield Lake.
The path would follow Eumemmerring Creek, which bisects the property.
Mr Rantino said that Casey was acting to alleviate the shortage of soccer fields in Casey’s north.
By the council’s formula, the region is 4.5 pitches short and most of its existing venues weren’t of District-level standard.
There was also the opportunity to expand and provide overflow parking for the next-door Narre Warren North Reserve.
“(It) is clearly the only land in the vicinity of (Narre Warren North) Reserve which is capable of accommodating a District-level soccer facility,” Mr Rantino said.
Casey’s supplied map of soccer venues show most of Casey’s northern soccer fields are in Doveton and Endeavour Hills, near to Narre Warren North.
The most populous areas of Berwick and Narre Warren are also the most sparse for soccer fields.
Planning Panels Victoria chairman Con Tsotsoros asked Mr Rantino if the council’s soccer fields policies and the compulsory acquisition was supported in Casey’s planning scheme.
During the hearing, Mr Rantino said objectors, including Mr Foy, supported Casey acquiring land for the trail link.
Mr Rantino said neighbours’ objections to increased traffic, noise, light and anti-social behaviour could be mitigated “as to be not unreasonable”.
Casey was backed by expert witnesses – traffic engineer Don Robertson and landscaping consultant Matthew Bolton.
Opposing Casey were the unrepresented John Foy and neighbour Marlene Kane, who were invited to make verbal submissions.
The hearing concluded on 1 December, with Mr Tsotsoros to deliver his decision at a later date.
– Cam Lucadou-Wells
