The Cape community fought a 20-year battle to preserve their village. Photo Frank Flynn
By Catherine Watson
JOHN Coulter admits there were times he lost hope in the long battle for Cape Paterson to remain a small coastal village.
But it was there in black and white when the Statement of Planning Policy (SPP) for Bass Coast was finally released last Tuesday. “Growth will be accommodated through development within the protected settlement boundary shown on Map 19.”
After 20 years of ministerial announcements, council framework plans, petitions, planning panel hearings and structure plans, the map unequivocally shows Cape Paterson’s boundary now stops at Seaward Drive.
JOHN Coulter admits there were times he lost hope in the long battle for Cape Paterson to remain a small coastal village.
But it was there in black and white when the Statement of Planning Policy (SPP) for Bass Coast was finally released last Tuesday. “Growth will be accommodated through development within the protected settlement boundary shown on Map 19.”
After 20 years of ministerial announcements, council framework plans, petitions, planning panel hearings and structure plans, the map unequivocally shows Cape Paterson’s boundary now stops at Seaward Drive.
“We’ve been waiting for the Minister to sign off,” John said. "It’s been a long journey for the residents and ratepayers to get to this point.”
The developers, naturally, are disappointed. Project managers Wallis Watson told the Sentinel Times their clients had been denied natural justice because the initial draft SPP recommended residential development north of Seaward Drive.
But with a 20-year history of backflips and counter backflips, it all depends on where you start and end this particular story.
The developers, naturally, are disappointed. Project managers Wallis Watson told the Sentinel Times their clients had been denied natural justice because the initial draft SPP recommended residential development north of Seaward Drive.
But with a 20-year history of backflips and counter backflips, it all depends on where you start and end this particular story.
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The battle for Cape shows the devilish complexity of planning law.
The application site, north of Seaward Drive, was first identified for residential growth through the Bass Coast Strategic Coastal Planning Framework in 2005. In 2010 a planning panel recommended that Cape Paterson could expand to the north or to the west, but not both. Expansion to the west had already started so the north was out. But two years later then planning minister Matthew Guy rejected the panel’s advice and extended the boundary north of Seaward Drive. The expansion would have rezoned 110 hectares of farm land to residential for up to 940 dwellings, doubling Cape Paterson’s size and population. “Developers can pay people to do the work," John says. "They sell a couple of blocks and cover it. But community members just need to keep slogging along. "People who were involved 15 years ago have moved on. You get worn out. I did lose heart that we would ever stop it. |
The SPP respects the wishes of residents that Cape Paterson should remain a village, with limited infrastructure. It states that development should respect the coastal character of the established areas and streetscapes should be informally designed and pedestrian and cyclist-friendly. In 2013 Cape residents rejected the suburban trappings of sealed roads, footpaths and drainage as part of a special scheme proposed by the council. |
“Luckily some new people came on the committee and reinvigorated it and kept the campaign going. We have a terrific team, people with really good skill sets and knowledge.”
When then Labor Premier Daniel Andrews declared the Bass Coast Distinctive Areas and Landscapes (DAL) process in 2018 he referred to Guy’s Cape decision: "Under the Liberals, the town boundaries of Cowes and Cape Paterson were changed against the advice of independent planning panels. Under Labor, any attempt to expand town boundaries in the declared areas must be agreed to by the Parliament, protecting locals from the Liberals and their sneaky secret deals at kitchen tables."
Despite the promise, there was still a long battle ahead. To the consternation of Cape residents, the draft SPP that came out in late 2022 confirmed the land north of Seaward Drive could be developed.
The Cape Paterson Residents and Ratepayers Association (CPRRA) swung into action.
The DAL process offered a window of opportunity because, unlike a standard planning process, it’s designed to value the distinctive area and landscape rather than employment and housing.
While planning people prefer to listen to other planning people, the Cape team decided to do it differently. They scripted a measured but passionate presentation by 10 Cape residents – all experts in their own fields – that covered every aspect from planning regulations and housing supply to the presence of rare orchids and the submarine world of the Bunurong Marine Park.
When then Labor Premier Daniel Andrews declared the Bass Coast Distinctive Areas and Landscapes (DAL) process in 2018 he referred to Guy’s Cape decision: "Under the Liberals, the town boundaries of Cowes and Cape Paterson were changed against the advice of independent planning panels. Under Labor, any attempt to expand town boundaries in the declared areas must be agreed to by the Parliament, protecting locals from the Liberals and their sneaky secret deals at kitchen tables."
Despite the promise, there was still a long battle ahead. To the consternation of Cape residents, the draft SPP that came out in late 2022 confirmed the land north of Seaward Drive could be developed.
The Cape Paterson Residents and Ratepayers Association (CPRRA) swung into action.
The DAL process offered a window of opportunity because, unlike a standard planning process, it’s designed to value the distinctive area and landscape rather than employment and housing.
While planning people prefer to listen to other planning people, the Cape team decided to do it differently. They scripted a measured but passionate presentation by 10 Cape residents – all experts in their own fields – that covered every aspect from planning regulations and housing supply to the presence of rare orchids and the submarine world of the Bunurong Marine Park.
Team Cape after their presentation to the DAL panel in April 2023: from left, Jill Maddock, Geoff Glare, Cheryl Padgett, Mike Tesch, John Coulter, Pete Muskins, Terry Burke, David Hayward and Paul Byrne.
The Cape boundary was one of the most contentious issues for the DAL panel that sat in 2023, attracting 269 submissions, of which 263 favoured bring the boundary back to Seaward Drive.
The final panel report noted: “The Committee acknowledges the extent of opposing submissions to this process that relate to Cape Paterson. Many submitters presented as part of the CPRRA, as well as individually. All were passionate about their local community and many shared lifestyle stories …
“Despite the long and sustained role in this Hearing by the CPRRA and other submitters, no competing evidence was called to support a retraction of the settlement boundary.”
“No change” was the panel’s recommendation to the Planning Minister, Sonya Kilkenny. That was unknown to the community or developers at this stage, of course. The report sat on the Minister’s desk for 18 months.
In early 2024 the council made a late submission backing the Cape residents, stating that the recently approved Wonthaggi North East Precinct Structure Plan ensured adequate supply of residential land in Bass Coast for the next 15 years, as required by the State.
In December last year, Bass MP Jordan Crugnale called the CPRRA to tell them the boundary would return to Seaward Drive, subject to the community’s endorsement. Ninety per cent of residents voted yes and the deed was done.
The owners of the land, naturally, are disappointed. Project managers Wallis Watson told the Sentinel Times their clients had been denied natural justice because the initial draft SPP recommended residential development.
But with a 20-year history of backflips and counter backflips, it all depends on where you start and end the story. This saga started with a political decision by a planning Minister in 2012 to extend the boundary and ended with a political decision by another planning minister in 2025 to bring the boundary back.
John says community groups such as the CRRA are often accused of being anti-development and NIMBY.
“Obviously Bass Coast needs more housing, everybody accepts that, but it needs to be in the right locations. There's almost no infrastructure in Cape Paterson and no money to pay for it either.
“The council can't afford to and doesn't want to pay for it. When the special charge scheme was proposed about five years ago for roads and drainage the community voted that they didn't want it. If the expansion to the north had gone ahead, the issues would have fallen back on future councils to deal with it.”