Aged care is closer

A PROPOSED aged care facility in Lynbrook, which is expected to generate an estimated 210 new jobs, is one step closer to development.
Councillors at the last Casey Council meeting for last year agreed to adopt the amended Lynbrook and Lyndhurst Development plan to include the application for a nursing home/ retirement village on the South Gippsland Highway.
The development would provide for 96 aged care beds, a 180-villa retirement village and a community services administration centre.
The applicant, Southern Cross Care (SCC), anticipates the facility will generate approximately $4.7 million per annum and create 115 new direct jobs, as well as 95 indirect jobs.
The proposal did not receive any objections when it was placed on community exhibition for one month.
“I think this is a fantastic development for the area and a wonderful opportunity,” Strathard Ward councillor Lorraine Wreford said at the 20 December meeting.
However, debate erupted over the suitable distance of buffer zones between the proposed land and the nearby landfill site after council officers questioned the appropriateness of the current 370 metre separation distance.
Council officers said new Environmental Protection Authority requirements recommended a buffer distance of 500 metres between a residential dwelling and the ‘tipping area’ of a putrescible landfill.
They advised that the landfill had been operating under a licence with a 200 metre buffer and was yet to receive any objections, but suggested that the council alert all future land owners in the area of the proximity to the landfill when considering planning applications.
“If we don’t do this we are electing not to follow EPA guidelines and alert future home buyers in the area,” Director Planning and Development Services Paul Bawden said.
“It might not be a problem now but we may have complaints in the future,” Balla Balla Ward councillor Colin Butler agreed.
“I understand ‘buyer beware’ but I don’t think advising of the nearby landfill will prevent people from buying.
“As a responsible council we should advise there is a tip nearby. This will cover council because it could come back later to bite us on the bum.”
But River Gum Ward councillor Wayne Smith said the council officer recommendation would only hinder the planning application and slow the development of a vital community service.
“If people are serious about buying a property they will do their homework.
“We don’t need to impede this application.
“I have never had a call, bar one, about the smell from the landfill.
“If we had to tell people that 500 metres away from their home is a tip we would have to do that for everything.
“Next we’ll be telling them there is a McDonald’s around the corner,” he said.
Cr Wreford said Casey suffered from a shortage of aged care facilities and could not support any policy that would hamper the proposed development.
“We so desperately need more aged care facilities in Casey.
“I can’t wait to see development there,” she said.
Councillors voted to adopt the revised Lynbrook and Lyndhurst Development Plan, without a clause advising future land owners of the nearby landfill.