Northern Grampians Shire Council councillors moved a motion to approve the Valley Drive Development Plan, a proposal for the planning of future opportunities in the tourist town.

Prepared by iPlanning Services Pty Ltd, on behalf of the landowner of 20 Valley Drive, Halls Gap, the plan outlines the purposes of the development plan is to provide a clear and overarching framework for the future development of 8.59 hectares of land strategically located in the heart of the Halls Gap township.

The Northern Grampians Shire planning department did not recommend approval of the proposed development plan as it does not meet two of the key objectives of the Development Plan Overlay.

Those objectives were a provision of an area of public open space associated with the proposed wetlands and the provision of adequate pedestrian paths.

However, mayor Murray Emerson said after much deliberation, the Council were satisfied with the plans and moved forward to approve the plans.

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"We decided the applicant had decided all of the planning requirements," Cr Emerson said.

"The part that was in dispute was the public land that the applicant has to provide with a planning development such as this one.

"We were satisfied that the applicant had satisfactorily supplied that - which was against our planning officers recommendation. They weren't 100 per cent sure that he had."

The Development Plan Overlay further required a development plan to be approved by Council before any subdivision may occur.

This will ensure that a comprehensive additional analysis has been undertaken to ensure the environmental, scenic values and bushfire risk are adequately responded to.

This Development Plan is required to facilitate a future planning permit application on the land and is required to be approved prior to the approval of a planning permit for the subdivision and development of the land.

Detailed plans for the subdivision and development of the land will be provided as part of any future planning permit application.

Cr Emerson said the development plan didn't mean the valley floor of Halls Gap, where the application is for, is available for open slather.

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"There is zoning in that area that only allows, in this instance, six or seven infrastructure buildings, specifically for the tourism industry," he said.

"They can't go build six or seven houses there and sell them off.

"Now, they can go through that process at a later time. That contravenes the building regulations in regards to the zoning."

Cr Emerson said there was still a lot more work to do to get to the development stage for building - that was one of the reasons the Council was happy to agree to the development plan at this stage.

Councillor Trevor Gready moved the motion to recommend to approve the proposed development plan, which was seconded by Cr Eddy Ostarcevic.

Cr Gready said Halls Gap required more accommodation for visitors and would like to see the project go ahead.

Within the development plan, the vision is stated as a plan to build on its central location, the Valley Drive Development Plan will be a well-connected and serviced development that takes advantage of its distinctive landscape character and unique sense of place in the heart of Halls Gap and the gateway to the Grampians National Park, one of Victoria's main tourist destinations.

Specifically, the vision of the Development Plan is slated to provide:

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