San Remo expansion out
The Age, November 21, 2009
by Royce Millar

A CONTROVERSIAL proposal to redraw town boundaries that would have tripled the size of San Remo near Phillip Island has been dropped by the local Bass Coast Shire.

This week's decision to opt for a more modest boundary extension comes after an independent planning panel last month warned the scheme could result in a planning "blight" on the clifftops of Anderson Peninsula.

In July The Age revealed details of the campaign by developers, the Labor-linked Trinity Group and Melbourne-based Brian Rule, to extend the boundary more than a kilometre eastwards along the peninsula to allow for new housing, retail and tourism precincts on land they controlled. At the time, Mr Rule boasted he had "bulldozed" the council into supporting the move.

The Age revealed how the State Government had also pressured the council to "expedite" the rezoning, and detailed financial links between the developers and councillors.

In an embarrassing snub to both Government and council, the independent panel warned dramatic expansion of the town's perimeters could result in a surplus of residential land and poor, ad hoc housing development.

Controversy about the project sparked an investigation by Local Government Victoria of the council's handling of the matter. This investigation continues.

This week the council accepted most of the recommendations of the panel, including a limited boundary realignment to cater for expected development over the next 15 years.

Lobby firm Enhance represents Trinity in Victoria. Yesterday the Victorian head of the company, Tim Fawcett, would only say that Trinity was considering its options for its interests at San Remo. Mr Rule has not returned calls by The Age since the report in July.