Bass Coast Post
  • Home
    • Recent articles
  • News
    • Point of view
    • View from the chamber
  • Contributors
    • Anne Davie
    • Anne Heath Mennell
    • Bob Middleton
    • Carolyn Landon
    • Catherine Watson
    • Christine Grayden
    • Dick Wettenhall
    • Ed Thexton
    • Etsuko Yasunaga
    • Frank Coldebella
    • Gayle Marien
    • Geoff Ellis
    • Gill Heal
    • Harry Freeman
    • Ian Burns
    • Joan Woods
    • John Coldebella
    • Julie Paterson
    • Julie Statkus
    • Kit Sleeman
    • Laura Brearley >
      • Coastal Connections
    • Lauren Burns
    • Liane Arno
    • Linda Cuttriss
    • Linda Gordon
    • Lisa Schonberg
    • Liz Low
    • Marian Quigley
    • Mark Robertson
    • Mary Whelan
    • Meryl Brown Tobin
    • Michael Whelan
    • Mikhaela Barlow
    • Miriam Strickland
    • Natasha Williams-Novak
    • Neil Daly
    • Patsy Hunt
    • Pauline Wilkinson
    • Richard Kemp
    • Sally McNiece
    • Terri Allen
    • Tim Shannon
  • Features
    • Features 2024
    • Features 2023
    • Features 2022
    • Features 2021
    • Features 2020
    • Features 2019
    • Features 2018
    • Features 2017
    • Features 2016
    • Features 2015
    • Features 2014
    • Features 2013
    • Features 2012
  • Arts
  • Local history
  • Environment
  • Nature notes
    • Nature notes
  • A cook's journal
  • Community
    • Diary
    • Courses
    • Groups
    • Stories
  • Contact us

​Cowes renaissance

22/9/2023

3 Comments

 
By Catherine Watson
 
IN RECENT years, the adjectives used to describe Cowes would probably have included dowdy, tawdry and daggy.
 
But suddenly it’s all happening in Cowes. The $27 million Cowes Cultural Centre, Berninneit, is due to open in November; the Phillip Island Community Hospital will open next year, and two major hotels are in the works.
 
On Wednesday, councillors unanimously approved an $85 million waterfront hotel on the former Isle of Wight site. The development by Moda Phillip Island Pty Ltd includes a seven-storey mixed-use hotel with 163 rooms, a pool deck overlooking the ocean and rooftop basketball and tennis courts.
There are four food and beverage outlets – a pub, bistro, hotel dining room and flagship restaurant – as well as a yoga studio, gym and wellness centre, and two function rooms.

A distinctive feature of the development is an adjoining three-storey, 49-room hostel for staff and backpackers at 2-8 Bass Avenue, Cowes. With long-term, affordable rentals scarce on Phillip Island (as in all major Australian tourist destinations) this is a real game changer.
This is the second major hotel project for Cowes. Councillors last year approved a 43-room, five-apartment hotel development next to the new cultural centre.

So is the long awaited Cowes renaissance happening at last? Bass Coast Mayor Michael Whelan has no doubts that Cowes has turned the corner.

He said the Moda development would return the site to a landmark Phillip Island destination. “There’s no better place to be in summer than on The Esplanade in Cowes, and this hotel will enhance our already vibrant island and promote visitation across all of Bass Coast.”
The iconic 140-year-old Isle of Wight hotel famously played host to Fred Astair, Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck during their filming of the movie On the Beach on Phillip Island in 1958. The site has been largely vacant since the hotel burnt down in 2010.

Cr Whelan said the development would serve as a catalyst for further economic opportunity and growth. “Tourism is one of the main economic drivers of Bass Coast, but we currently lack enough accommodation to keep visitors in the region for more than a day.”

Moving the motion to approve the Esplanade development, Cr David Rooks said the site had been recognised as a landmark site in the Cowes Activity Centre Plan.

“It’s a huge game changer for locals and tourists. This land was an opportunity to reinvent Cowes as a destination. Moda has worked really well with council officers over a long period of time to achieve these design objectives.”

The council received 39 objections to Moda’s development, most relating to the height of the hotel and a shortfall in on-site parking, and seven submissions of support.

In its consideration of the development, the council officers’ report noted the significant reduction in required car parking (provision has been made for 197 basement car parking bays under the hotel, a discount of 935 peak parking spaces), but deemed the new hotel would provide an “overall net community benefit”.
Picture
Von Mueller trees to stay
A condition of the permit for the new hotel is the retention of two historic trees, a Moreton Bay fig and hoop pine.
  The trees are believed to have been planted by Baron Ferdinand Von Mueller, the first Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens, in 1869.
  The Moreton Bay fig has been classified on the National Trust of Australia’s national register of significant trees while the hoop pine is classified by the National Trust of Victoria as having regional significance.
  Moda had proposed to retain the fig tree but remove the pine, which its consultant arborist had declared was in poor condition.
  The council’s arborist disagreed, saying the tree was in relatively good condition and showing signs of new growth.  
  Hoop pines are slow growing species that can have lifespans of up to 450 years. With the tree estimated to be around 150 years, it could have centuries left.

Cr Rooks said the development aligned with key council objectives, including the Cowes Access and Movement Study and the Cowes Streetscape Master Plan. The Cowes Access and Movement Study recommend flipped the transport hierarchy from a car-dominated design to preference active transport – walking, cycling and public transport.
​
“Moda has embraced this with a pedestrian laneway linking the hotel and the main street, dedicated bus pick up zones, worker accommodation on site and a green travel plan for visitors and staff, reducing the need for excessive car parking,” Cr Rooks said. ​
3 Comments
Barbara Theresia Moje
23/9/2023 08:13:17 pm

I don't disagree with the development per se as there are many benefits, but ...good luck to Cowes with the missing 900 car parks... I am also a bit sceptical of the Great Wall of Moda model, it reminds me a bit of the Gas and Fuel Buildings which effectively walled off the connection of the city (Melbourne) to the Yarra precinct and these buildings were unceremoniously demolished decades later. One would think that more sensitive design options would be available nowadays..
One other in my mind HUGE question: What is the carbon footprint of such a large development? If we have any hope of reducing our carbon emissions, this needs to be addressed sooner rather than later! Surely new developments should be held accountable for this, or, conversely be encouraged to reduce their emissions (ie use car parks as a bargaining chip rather than handing a developer an exemption without much ado...??) with construction being a huge source of carbon emissions, the elephant in the room here being the embodied carbon within the construction materials themselves. With an $ 85 mil development this should be considerable, concrete interestingly being one of the most carbon intensive materials after aluminium. There are options available (green concrete; use recycled in lieu of newly 'minted' aluminium..), creating the incentive to do better lies with planning authorities and Councils. Berninneit did it with its PassiveHouse design massively lowering energy input in the day to day running, and using CLT timber construction for it's structural frame.

Reply
Neil Rankine
24/9/2023 06:45:21 pm

Well said Barbara,
Developers should strive for lowering their footprint, if they don't we should extract that commitment from them.

Reply
Jean boyle
6/6/2025 11:50:44 pm

I'm trying to get in touch with gavin that's all l know of him l have a phone number of this person 07541312750 been phoning an leaving message since 6dec2024 to 6 June 2025 had no reply from them this all l know of him name an phone number l left my email address he lives in the lsle of wight l meet him while visiting my daughter with my husband friend an my friend to for long time ldont have websites l give u my mobile number 7932 780338 if u know him please contact me thank u

Reply



Leave a Reply.