Ballarat City Council last night voted to abandon the Planning Scheme Amendment sought by Ballarat Clarendon College (BCC) to adopt a Special Use Zone over BCC-controlled land and to include a BCC Master Plan into the Ballarat Planning Scheme.
This decision will result in no change to the planning controls which currently apply to the BCC campus areas and land adjacent to the Sturt Street campus.
The amendment had sought to incorporate the BCC master plan into the Planning Scheme to accommodate planned growth and adopt a Special Use Zone across all the land controlled by college to rationalise planning controls.
The school had also asked to:
• Demolish three dwellings listed as being of contributory status to the Ballarat West Heritage Precinct, tennis courts and a carport
• Relocate a contributory dwelling and modify two other houses into school buildings
• Develop a sports field and associated buildings and works, including development of fences and car parks,
• Partial closure of Ajax Street and Murray Street, and the removal of a pedestrian easement that currently runs between Sturt Street and Ajax Street.
Council received 37 submissions to the Planning Scheme amendment request as part of the exhibition phase with the major concerns being:
• Traffic management, volume and congestion
• Closure of the pedestrian easement
• Demolition of buildings deemed contributory to the Ballarat West Heritage Precinct
• Inadequate provision of on-site car parking
• “Creep” of the school into established residential areas
• Adverse amenity impacts of the school expansion on the surrounding residential area
• Increase in student numbers on the Sturt Street Campus should be accommodated on other school campuses.
