Your informed feedback is now needed…
On Monday, March 3rd GORCAPA will publish the precinct drawings for the wider community to provide their feedback on, as the next steps for the Geelong City Deal - Improvements to Tourism Infrastructure at Kennett River Project roll out.
Community engagement will run for 3 weeks, via the GORCAPA Have Your Say page.
Online community sessions will be held by the project team and 2 GORCAPA surveys will be available for you to complete to have your say on:
The draft precinct plan - Geelong City Deals Improvements to Tourism Infrastructure
The draft caravan park master plan. Please note, there were limited discussions regarding the caravan park master plan, and these plans are two fold (amenities block which are incorporated into the infrastructure project deliverables, other changes are for future planning and funding)
There is no question that visitation to Kennett River has had monumental growth. The data is irrefutable - we are a globally recognised stop for tourists, with year-round appeal and it’s free. We are seeing the vegetation degraded, animals displaced and community amenity lost. The current visitation numbers are beyond what is sustainable for the environs and for a small, residential hamlet.
Before you complete the surveys, we would like to share 2 key documents with you:
A precinct proposal submitted in February 2024 as a collective - meaning a design that was created through the combined efforts of many families, answering the brief set by GORCAPA of safety, aesthetics and visitation.
A feedback letter we gave the GORCAPA Project Team in September 2024 when we learnt that GORCAPA’s plans did not quite meet their own brief of safety, aesthetics and visitation.
Now you have a chance to respond when the GORCAPA surveys arrive, in a way that carefully considers the fragile environs and how to preserve and protect those for future generations.
We acknowledge that this project is not a silver bullet, and will not address all the challenges faced in Kennett River, however this is the time to put your thoughts forward, which will help inform any future considerations for our community.
Please consider though,
if the infrastructure project does not proceed,
we won’t get this money again.
Our hope is that the information we have shared, in particular the feedback we gave GORCAPA for a safe, community hub where there is and never will be provision for long vehicles, or buses (limiting visitation numbers), also considering how *users converging (*pedestrians, vehicles, cyclists) won’t be safe with a roundabout will help you respond in a more informed way…
As 2 of the 8 (CRG) Community Reference Group members, we are available to take your call or answer any questions you may have, so please feel very welcome to reach out anytime.
Our mobile numbers are Elenore 0414 158 908 and Jules 0411 954 599.
A picture paints a thousand words…
Kangaroos with feed still in their mouths interrupted at dawn and dusk while foraging, are not returning to what is an ancient generational foraging corridor. They have been displaced due to mass tourism arriving at 7am and still coming at nightfall. A king parrot (clearly not well with feathers missing) being fed pastry captured by Joe Armao/The Age
