The future of the Diggers Rest Hotel still hangs in the balance.
At its meeting last week, Melton council resolved to defer, for no more than three months, consideration of a planning application to demolish the hotel.
The deferral follows the council’s March 4 meeting at which it declared a decision would be reached within three months.
A report presented to the council showed that council officers had had a number of discussions with would-be developers in the past three months, but no meeting had taken place due to separate legal matters that first needed to be resolved.
The historic hotel was partly destroyed by fire in October 2008. The remaining ruins have become an eyesore for many residents.
A petition with more than 50 signatures was presented to the council in March calling for it to approve a proposal to demolish the hotel.
The hotel is sited in a green wedge zone and affected by heritage overlay. There would be limited options for rebuilding if what’s left of the hotel were removed.
Meanwhile, the council has thrown out an application to rezone land on Outlook Ride and Gunnawarra Road, Kurunjang, from low-density residential zone to residential one.
The decision to abandon the application means the issue will not be revisited.
