Diggers Rest residents are lobbying to stop an application for a caravan park along the Old Calder Highway which they believe is “nonsensical” for the area.
A permit application to build a 50-lot caravan park at 1376-1432 Old Calder Highway is out for public notice until June 14.
The application was a bone of contention for residents on the Diggers Rest community group Facebook page, with one post attracting more than 100 comments.
But the applicant, Dean Slaviero, said his vision was to attract tourism to the town.
“My dad’s owned the property for over 30 years,” Mr Slaviero said.
“We’re looking to improve the town and provide better services to this growing town.
“Diggers Rest is the gateway to the Macedon Ranges and we’ve got a great opportunity here to make that gateway look so much better than it already is.
“I want it to be a community asset for the town.”
He said his idea for the site would eventually include refurbishing a W-Class tram and converting it into a burger cafe, a community garden and a boardwalk lined with machinery as a tourist attraction.
One objector, who asked not to be named, said his concern was that the caravan park would alter the neighbourhood character.
“Diggers Rest is a small, tight-knit community that is mostly inhabited by families of local workers or city commuters,” he posted.
“It is not a tourist destination and developing a caravan park is just nonsensical.
“It is a thinly veiled attempt to cash in on the strong growth of the residential market.
“The economic benefits proposed in the planning report are at best wildly optimistic.
“There is no evidence of a shortage of accommodation for visitors to the region.
“For the sake of maintaining the neighborhood character of Diggers Rest, please reject this proposal and find a way to utilise this industrial land for something that will add tangible benefits to the community.”
In 2000, more than 100 residents lobbied outside Melton council chambers against an application for a larger scale caravan park on Coimadai Road for fear it would attract unwanted visitors to the area.
Many of the residents against Mr Slaviero’s proposal shared the same concerns.
“I understand where the peoples’ concerns are coming from,” Mr Slaviero said.
“The last application, more than 15 years ago, was right in the centre of town.
“But I planned the caravan park as far away from the town as I could on my land.
“I’m working with people in Diggers Rest at the moment and I just want to make better use of this land.”
