A Bacchus Marsh couple fear they will not be compensated by Moorabool council over a plan to build a bike and walking path “running through the middle” of land they have owned since 1962.
A legal letter from the landowners’ lawyer, Rigby Cooke, reveals the council has made no offer of compensation for the unspecified piece of land on both sides of Pilmer Street.
The letter states the path, which would link the railway station with Main Street, would impose “serious economic losses” to the couple.
The path is part of the council’s plans for a “greenway” – a 24-metre-wide “transport spine” where people can cycle and walk.
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“Our clients are not developers,” the letter states. “Our clients’ current and future development of the land would be restricted … in the above proposed controls.
“Until recently, the land was used for agricultural purposes … part of the land is being used by our client’s son for agricultural testing.
“We understand council wants to provide for appropriate pedestrian movement from the train station to Main Street. However, the suggested location is inappropriate and fails to achieve a net community benefit.”
The letter stated that Rigby Cooke questioned the legitimacy of “councils using the imposition of a development plan as a de facto means of acquiring private land for a public purpose, without providing fair compensation”.
“[The landowners] were not directly consulted during the drafting of the [Bacchus Marsh] structure plan even though they are the primary landowner affected by the greenway,” it stated.
In response to nine objections, a Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure panel said it supported the council’s “indicative path” … “but [the path] does not have to be in the form originally proposed”.
The Star Weekly understands the affected landowners are content with a new proposal put forward by the panel workshop but yet to be discussed by the council.
During the panel hearing a legal representative for the landowner likened plans for the original path to the “Champs de Lysee”, and said its location was unfair.
Bacchus Marsh couple Lyle and Yvonne Marsden attended the hearing. They said the greenway would bisect their land, devalue their property and wreck plans for building a motel on it.
“We’re not sure [what’s happening]. It’s a small parcel of land; it [the path] wrecks our block,” Mrs Marsden said.
In its submission to the hearing, Moorabool council said the greenway would “reinforce the sense of local community within Bacchus Marsh”.
“Tthe principle contained in the structure plan to require a north- south linkage through the [landowner’s] site, is an important feature, which should be retained.
A council spokesperson said the proposal was still in planning.
