hilton no more - part 1

report from the roundtable - 12 oct



At this week's council meeting councillors had to consider whether to grant a third extension to the proposed Hilton Hotel project in Yarra Glen.

In the entire time the permit has been 'live' (since 2001) the only construction that has gone on is the grading of an internal road. We have not seen any commencement of a building in the last 10 years and the proposition before us was that the hotel would be built in the next two and a half years.

I was pleased to second the motion to refuse the extension. In speaking for a refusal I talked about the disappointment of seeing nothing but a token driveway being built out on site. If a hotel cant be built in 10 years why would we think it could be done in 2 1/2 years.

It is clear that the applicant doesn't want to proceed with the original application and want to apply for a hotel that is simply inappropriate on that site (see blog). If the applicants want a different hotel then they should apply for new planning permit and allow proper planning processes to take place

I was pleased to see the following councillors support the motion: Cr's Jeanette McRae (mover), Samantha Dunn (seconder), Richard Higgins, Tim Heenan, Noel Cliff and Len Cox

Those against the refusal were: Cr's Terry Avery, Graham Warren and Chris Templer.