Helicopter landing site riles locals in this prized coastal area

6 hours ago 5

The flat waters of Lakers Cutting on the Bellarine Peninsula are home to all manner of native and migratory birds. Pelicans, royal spoonbills and swans are some of the creatures that land and take off from the site and its quiet surrounds.

But soon, a privately owned helicopter is set to be soaring among them too. Despite fierce resistance from community groups and individuals on the peninsula, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal recently approved an application by a property owner to host a helicopter landing site on his land at Queenscliff beside the waterway.

Lakers Cutting feeds into Swan Bay, which is listed in the Ramsar Convention’s directory of wetlands of international significance, although that declaration does not apply to Lakers Cutting itself.

Lakers Cutting, where plans have been approved for a helicopter landing site.

But many local residents were still dismayed by the tribunal’s decision to approve the helicopter landing site within metres of the marine environment. They fear the decision will set a precedent allowing for similar permit applications in future.

Queenscliffe Community Association president David Connoley said his group had myriad concerns about the landing site, ranging from environmental and wildlife disturbance to noise. (The wider borough’s name is spelt with a final “e”, unlike the town.)

Connoley said the tribunal had applied excessively narrow criteria in its decision to grant the planning permit application to property owner James Ramsey last month for the purposes of private transport.

“Naturally, we’re disappointed that much of the environmental issues were taken out of the assessment,” he said. “It [the tribunal] narrowed the grounds down so much it became difficult to raise issues we thought were really important.”

Local residents David Kenwood and David Connoley at Lakers Cutting.

Connoley said the tribunal had decided it was not relevant to include the state government’s declaration of the Bellarine Peninsula as a “distinctive area and landscape” in its decision. The declaration is designed to protect parts of Victoria with special attributes, including environmental values.

He said it was inappropriate and concerning that a helicopter could be taking off, landing and flying near such an environmentally sensitive area teeming with birdlife.

His group raised concerns about noise, but the tribunal heard expert evidence that the sound produced by the proposed helicopter would be within the legally allowed levels.

Queenscliff resident and former councillor David Kenwood, who opposed the application in tribunal hearings, said it was deeply worrying that the distinctive areas and landscape designation had not been considered.

“The great worry of this is the precedent it sets particularly for this area,” he said. “It’s virtually impossible to stop another helicopter operation.”

The Borough of Queenscliffe has previously reported nearly 200 bird species have been seen in Swan Bay and that its intertidal mudflats are home to about 10,000 migratory birds each summer.

Ramsey’s property is located within a rural conservation zone, and it is also covered by a significant landscape overlay and environmental significance overlay. But the tribunal found these were also not relevant to the proposed use in the helicopter landing site application.

The Age made multiple attempts to seek a response from Ramsey, including through his lawyers, but he could not be reached for comment.

Kenwood said the area beside Lakers Cutting was serene and inappropriate for a helicopter.

“It’s probably the quietest place in the borough.”

The zoning of the land and its designation as a distinctive area and landscape should have been enough to protect it from uses including helicopter flights, he said.

Opponents of the helicopter landing site application fear the effect on the area’s birds.

“You think you’ve got safeguards, but once you get into VCAT they’re not existent.”

The tribunal determined the Bellarine Peninsula Statement of Planning Policy was not incorporated or referred to expressly in the planning scheme.

The statement of planning policy sets out a 50-year vision for the area to protect its “outstanding landscapes and coastal landforms”, living Indigenous cultural heritage and history and important infrastructure.

The policy lists more than a dozen public entities that are responsible for the declared area, including the Borough of Queenscliffe, Parks Victoria and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. However, VCAT is not among them.

Monash University urban planning and design senior lecturer Liz Taylor said the Queenscliffe council had initially refused a permit for the landing site, but later supported the application. Third-party objectors then spoke out against the application at the tribunal hearings.

David Kenwood and David Connoley strolling the shore of Lakers Cutting.

Taylor said the state government declared the Bellarine Peninsula a distinctive area and landscape several years ago, which meant it was part of Victoria’s planning provisions.

However, she said the state government needed to make a planning scheme amendment to formally incorporate the declaration into the Queenscliffe planning scheme.

A Victorian government spokeswoman said work was under way to incorporate the Bellarine Peninsula Statement of Planning Policy through an amendment to relevant planning schemes. However, it said local councils must consider the policy when making relevant decisions within the declared area.

The tribunal granted the permit to Ramsey subject to several conditions, including that flight movements not exceed 16 per calendar month. The helicopter movements can only occur between 7am and 7pm.

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