Confusion as date shops around

By Tania Martin
MT EVELYN residents are in a state of confusion after the wrong date for the close of submissions for a supermarket development was advertised.
The developer has put up signs advertising a proposed supermarket development on the corner of Snowball Avenue and Station Street in Mt Evelyn.
But the close of submission date is wrong.
The signs say the closing date is Saturday, 17 March when it should have been Tuesday, 17 April.
The developer now has to readvertise the development with a new closing date, Tuesday, 24 April.
A total of 400 people gathered at an urgent town meeting on Wednesday, 28 March because they believed they only had 14 days to get their objections in.
But now nearby residents can breath a little easier with an extra two weeks to collect their thoughts.
Mt Evelyn Environment Protection and Progress Association (MEEPPA) president Clare Worsnop said many people in town were confused about the dates.
Representatives from the developer and Safeway were last week unable to attend the meeting to answer the residents’ concerns.
Ms Worsnop said both parties had prior engagements for the night of the meeting.
Residents raised concerns that the developer and Safeway didn’t have enough notice for the meeting.
But Ms Worsnop said they were given the same amount of notice as everyone else.
Notice of the meeting was sent out on Thursday, 22 March, when the development plans went on display.
Ms Worsnop said it was important to hold the meeting as soon as possible so people could get their submissions into the Shire of Yarra Ranges.
Residents say the development will be blight on Mt Evelyn and have vowed to fight its introduction.
A campaign to stop the development of another supermarket in town started in 2003 when the land on the corner of Snowball Avenue and Station Street was rezoned from residential to business.
It was originally proposed to use the land for a pharmacy, doctor’s surgery and car park.
Nearby residents withdrew their objections to make way for the development for the pharmacy.
But as time passed residents saw the development wasn’t going ahead and fears of a supermarket grew rife.
Since then the people of Mt Evelyn have campaigned to rezone the land as residential following speculation that the land would be used for a Safeway supermarket.
Long-time resident Bill ‘Doc’ Hardy, last week asked the meeting if Mt Evelyn really needed another supermarket or if it was going continue its “no way Safeway” campaign.
Of the 400 people in attendance, only three said they were for the proposed development.
Mr Hardy called for the meeting to adopt a motion to make submissions to the council to refuse the application and to have the land returned to its original residential zoning.
The meeting unanimously agreed to adopt the motion.
Mr Hardy said now was the time for people to raise their voice against the development because “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Many local businesses fear that a Safeway would drive them out of town.
Shire manager of planning building and health James Lamour-Reid told the residents that it was important they make their submissions about planning concerns.
He said the council would assess the application against its planning policy, and planning-related objections would hold weight with the decision-making process.
Mr Lamour-Reid told the residents not to put their emotional feelings about the application in an objection but to use issues such as safety and amenity, which would be affected if the development went ahead.