belgrave town centre study endorsed

report form the roundtable – 28 sep

It was terrific to be able to move a motion for council to formally adopt the Belgrave Town Centre Study.

The study had been some time in the making and been the product of extensive community consultation.

The study reviewed the previous strategic work done for Belgrave to see if it was still relevant and also considered the need for a Belgrave Bypass.

The study identifies the desirable future form for the town, particularly in the key anchor locations of the current Safeway and New Belgrave Motors sites. It also talks about the sorts of treatments to make the town more accessible including the main road, railway and Alexander’s carpark.

The study found that the Belgrave Bypass was not an appropriate traffic measure for the town and also acknowledges some potential sites for the location of a community hub for Belgrave.
New Belgrave Motors (to the right of screen) is one of the key sites in Belgrave, it's important that some controls are in place to ensure the best possible outcome for the town.

Most importantly the study recommends some rezoning of Belgrave, particularly the New Belgrave Motors site which will be rezoned to Mixed Use which allows a greater flexibility for future uses but still triggers the need for a planning permit for a ‘convenience restaurant’. Those who’ve lived here for some time will remember the McDonalds vs Belgrave planning application.

The study also suggests Belgrave is ideally placed to become a cycling hub for the hills, with the shared trail from Lysterfield to Belgrave already in the shire’s capital works program, the town would make an ideal bicycle hub. I’d certainly like to see some more work done with Puffing Billy to reinitiate talks with the tourist railway to use their rail corridor for a shared trail, something locals and tourists alike would greatly benefit from.

Council only received 2 submissions to the study, both in support, which is a credit to the consultative work done to put the study together. Belgrave is a community that let’s council know when we’ve got it wrong.

I was pleased that councillors unanimously supported the study and it is now a formally endorsed plan for the future of Belgrave.