In a move potentially foreshadowing dramatic changes for Ballarat's eastern gateway, council planning officers have recommended a planning application for a 119-room, double-storey hotel in Warrenheip be approved.
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Should councillors endorse the recommendation, the proposed hotel development at 63 Mahers Road - fronting the Western Highway - would conceivably lend council the momentum it requires to finally realise the objectives of its Woodmans Hill precinct masterplan, which has been gathering dust since 2015.
That masterplan - the draft of which dates back to at least 2006 - is intended to guide redevelopment of that tired and uninviting stretch of road into an entrance more befitting of the city's most significant gateway.
Yet it bears emphasising the same masterplan was, from its inception, expressly tied to separate plans flagged by the Victorian government to upgrade that section of the highway to freeway status.
Though the masterplan anticipates completion of the upgrade by 2030 at the latest, the Victorian government is yet to commit to funding the project, and remains - in council's view at least - unlikely to absent wider anterior private development in the precinct.
"Certainly it's all a bit horse-and-cart," said City of Ballarat chief executive Evan King in May. "Hopefully some commercial interest in that area will justify the need to do the roadworks and act as a catalyst for the upgrade."
In light of that, it's highly doubtful councillors will vote against the recommendation to approve the proposed hotel development at the planning delegated committee meeting come Wednesday evening, notwithstanding the six objections levelled against it.
In the main, those objections turn on the perceived inability of the existing road network off the highway to accommodate the proposed hotel business, as well as any detrimental impact the development might visit on the environment or neighbouring properties.
None of those objections, say planning officials, carry much weight.
According to the concept plans for the development, the main access point to the property for those travelling from Melbourne would be provided via the unsealed Greene Road, off the Western Highway, while those travelling from the Ballarat direction would be expected to use Old Melbourne Road and Mahers Road to access the entrance.
These narrow backroads have, to date, generally only been used for agricultural purposes.
Acknowleding this, council planning officers have suggested road upgrades to both Mahers and Greene roads would be required as part of any planning permit granted, with the developer required to foot 40 per cent of the costs.
"[The] City of Ballarat program development officer has advised that Mahers Road is listed within the 2023/24 financial year road infrastructure capital works program," the officer's report said, adding that the proposed development, taken as a whole, was "considered respectively located and scaled in regard to the nature of the area".
The road upgrades would comprise a dedicated left turn deceleration lane along the Western Highway to provide access to Greene Road, along with both sealing and widening of Greene and Mahers roads.
Omitted from the officer's report, however, is any reference to possible interim road upgrades to the highway intersection at Old Melbourne Road and Brewery Tap Road.
This is not without significance, given the applicant's stated opinion the hotel business would inevitably increase traffic volume at that intersection, as well as council's own view - as expressed in the masterplan - that interim road upgrades would be advisable in such circumstances.
Speaking to The Courier last week, south ward councillor Ben Taylor said the safety concerns at that particular intersection were long-standing, and that it was past time the Victorian government committed to the freeway upgrade.
"The [state] government is behind with infrastructure - they're not keeping up, especially in regional areas, and Woodmans Hill is a prime example of that," he said.
"The sad thing is that everyone says it's one serious accident away from being done," he added. "Well, why is that the case? We [council] keep the government in the loop around what's needed all the time but it seems if there's no votes in it, then it doesn't get done.
"It's absolutely because we're not a marginal seat out here - the only way we seem to get things is if we're marginal enough.
"The [state] government should be well aware of what the issues are and therefore fund accordingly."
Cr Taylor said the planning for the Western Highway upgrade, which is anticipated to include a series of road widenings, entry and exit ramps and potential flyover works, should be undertaken now, and specifically designed with a view to accommodating the proposed Buninyong eastern link.
"In the old Melways, you could see proposed freeways or new roads, but we don't have that visibility anymore," he said. "Woodmans Hill needs to be done and that can be the intersection that connects the eastern link [from Buninyong].
"We should start planning now so then at least everyone knows what we're working towards."
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