The Friends of the Belmont Common
The Friends of the
Belmont Common do not oppose the building of a watersports complex in Geelong. What we do
oppose is the proposal to build it on the Belmont Common.
Belmont
Common
Belmont Common has been a
public reserve since 1839, but prior to 1970 was an undeveloped 'wasteland'.
Re-development and
re-vegetation of the Common commenced in 1972 with the construction of Barwon Valley
Public Golf Course. Other user groups took up residence around that time. The common has
been zoned as Public Open Space on the Geelong Regional Planning Scheme since 1974.
Belmont Common now has a
woodland of over 20,000 trees, grasslands and valuable wetlands that provide habitat for
more than 120 species of birds. It provides a secure home for a wide variety of wildlife,
including species that are protected by international treaties.
Consisting of 131
hectares of public open space and parkland, the Common is an irreplaceable green area in
the midst of an urban environment. Regardless of the merits of the construction of a
watersports complex or the rights of clubs or organisations, which may currently occupy
Belmont Common, it always has been and will continue to be public land. No person, body,
or authority should have the right to destroy the amenity of that land.
It is currently used by
thousands of people each week.
The
Watersports Complex
As early as the 1950s
proposals to build a watersports complex across the Belmont Common were put forward. There
have been three attempts in the last 18 years. Community consultation about the current
proposal has been minimal and more in the nature of 'This is what we will do'. Proponents
claim the complex will be of international standard.
The proposed watersports
complex involves construction across Belmont Common of a water channel 124 metres wide,
2.25-km long and 3 metres deep. The capacity of this channel will be 600 megalitres. The
course and embankment will take over and destroy most dry land areas on the Common and
will occupy 64 hectares; that is, an area 9 times that of the Melbourne Cricket Ground
measured around the outer perimeter of the stands.
The channel will divert
water from the Barwon River opposite the existing rowing sheds, just downstream of the
Moorabool Street bridge. Water will return to the river by means of a narrow channel,
upstream of Breakwater Road.
Each of the banks either
side of the channel will be 80.5 metres wide and 4.57 metres high above the water line,
and will have a slope of 1:3 at each side (SKM.1. p. 17).
The construction of the
proposed watersports complex will also involve:
- construction of culverts
under the banks to redirect storm and flood water;
- diversion of Breakwater
Road around the southern end of the proposed complex;
- elimination of the long
standing proposal (40 years) to construct a bridge across the Barwon River from the end of
Fellmongers Road to link up with Breakwater Road.
- relocation of the
motocross circuit, baseball diamonds and the Dog Obedience Club to other sites in Geelong
at ratepayers' expense;
- complete demolition of
Barwon Valley Public Golf Course;
- severing, by the water
channel, of the existing walking track along the southern bank of the Barwon River. Access
will only be available from Breakwater Road;
- relocation of the waterski
boat ramp to a site upstream of the Moorabool Street bridge;
- relocation of water and
gas mains which cross the Common. They will be placed under the water channel.
There are no details of
access roads, parking requirements, or spectator facilities.
No environment effects
study has been undertaken in the specific manner required under the Environment Effects
Act.
Council’s
costings
The Geelong council has
spent $165,000 on studies into the feasibility of the project and will spend a minimum of
$1,238 million to relocate user organisations. But the public golf course will not be
replaced.
As far as it is known
nothing has been spent on a social value assessment of the Common as an existing asset.
The Council's original
cost estimate was $5.2 million. Well credentialled international based engineers and
quantity surveyors state that a minimum club and regional standard complex would cost $8
million. A course meeting some international standards would cost $10 million. The
recently opened complex at Penrith in New South Wales has cost $36 million (Geelong
Advertiser 3.1.1998). Courses proposed for Athens and Rome will cost $24 million and $29
million respectively.
As of June 1999 the
estimate had been revised to $11.4 million.
The Council claims the
re-worked Common can be maintained for $27,500 annually. 'Set-up and clean-up' costs for
each watersports event will be from $6,000 to $7,000. Current maintenance costs, without
the difficulties of huge steep embankments and care of the 22.5-hectare waterway against
algae and weed growth, are $184,000.
Current user groups
provide thousands of volunteer hours on maintenance and improvements. As far as is known
the Council has not sought any such commitment from the watersports fraternity.
Golf on
the Common
As Barwon Valley Public
Golf Course is not to be replaced, recreational opportunities for 31,000 people (124,000
hours of recreation) will be lost (Barwon Valley Gold Club Inc 1997/98 report. These
figures do not include 19,000 users of the driving range
Barwon Valley Golf Club
will be forced to disband.
The current contributions
of $158,000 annually to the Council and $26,000 to Barwon Water made by the golf club will
be lost.
Watersports participant
numbers are very small; 2500 senior rowers and 2500 students are registered in the whole
of Victoria. By comparison, golf is the second most popular sport in Australia after
aerobics; 5.1% of males and 1.4% of females participate. And participation is growing.
Male membership of private golf clubs was 200,093 in 1970. This rose to 387,630 in 1995.
Female members rose from 100,652 in 1970 to 113,424 in 1995. An estimated 10% of
registered amateurs are juniors (Australian Bureau of Statistics).
Benefits
to Geelong
The proponents claim that
the annual benefit to Geelong will be from $8 million to $10 million if the complex is
built. This is based on crowds of 50,000 attending events. The largest watersports crowd
anywhere in Australia in recent years was 10,000. The proponents have not offered any user
numbers and cannot guarantee any high profile events to substantiate any figures they have
used in their mathematical model.
It’s worth noting
that the largest AFL crowd at Kardinia Park in the last 12 years was 33,000; the current
average 22,500.
Opportunities
for public comment
The Minister for
Planning and Local Government has required additional studies into the impact of the
complex to determine:
- The cost differential
between building a new bridge on the preferred site or on site further downstream.
- The effect on downstream
ecosystems.
- The effect on wildlife.
- Environmental safeguards
during construction.
These reports were
completed in April and presented at the Council meeting of 13 May 1998. The opportunity
for public comment was denied, as the reports were not available until after the meeting.
The Council adopted the reports and resolved to seek funding for the project to go ahead.
Earlier in 1998 a
petition bearing 3,000 signatures of persons opposed to the development were presented to
the Council. At the meeting of 13 May a further 1,648 signatures were presented. The
current Council treated them with disdain.
The Council claims that
the next opportunity for public participation will be available when application is made
for an amendment to the Geelong Regional Planning Scheme to allow the development of the
project.
Breakwater
Road and Bridge
One of the major issues
in the feasibility studies concerns a new east-west bridge over the Barwon River and the
Geelong-to-Warrnambool railway line. The following findings have been made:
The bridge proposed for
the past 25 years at the end of Fellmongers Rd cannot be built on that site if the rowing
course goes ahead.
Three options to build a
bridge at the southern end of the rowing course have been investigated with the following
cost results based on current traffic flows of 13,000 vehicles per day: bridge at the
preferred Fellmongers Rd site $9,378 million; bridge at either option A or B $10,805
million bridge at option C site $11,692 million. The additional cost at either option A or
B sites is $1,427 million and at option C is $2,584 million.
Disruption to traffic
movements by not proceeding with the bridge at Fellmongers Road will cost the community
$1,249 per day compared with the present situation and $2,585 per day if the bridge is
constructed at alternative sites A or B.
The construction of a
temporary’ loop in the existing Breakwater Road to clear the end of the course will
slow traffic significantly and cost the community $515 per day.
VicRoads had planned
construction of the bridge on the preferred Fellmongers Road site for the next 5 to 10
years. A bridge on any other site would not be considered in the foreseeable future.
Groundwater
effects
Groundwater monitoring
and assessment of the soil to be excavated for the channel indicate that from the upper
surface to a depth of 1.2 m the soil is stable, and that from 1.2 m to the design depth of
3.0 m, the soil is saturated and will have to be retained in bunds during the formation of
the course embankments.
The course proponents
expected to recoup $600,000 from the sale of 150,000 cubic metres of topsoil. It is likely
most of this will have to be used to form the bunds.
Soil and groundwater
samples in some locations indicate the presence of toxic material, from garbage tipping
many years ago, up over 400 times above the allowable limits for receiving water into the
Barwon River (Sinclair Knight Mertz report, p. 53). |
