BENDIGO councillor Peter Cox will spend the next two weeks aiming to gather evidence which supports a rescission motion against bulldozing a parcel of land in Kangaroo Flat.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Cr Cox plans to gather enough evidence and new information to convince the City of Greater Bendigo chief executive Craig Niemann and other councillors that a rescission motion can go ahead at the next council meeting on June 29.
“With a split vote on such an important piece of land in terms of environment, I felt further investigation needed to happen,” he said.
“Because I was unhappy with the ecological assessment I moved a rescission motion at the next council meeting.”
A rescission motion means offices of the council cannot act on the motion despite it being passed.
Cr Cox slammed the council’s decision at Wednesday night’s meeting to demolish 2.7 hectares of bush and wetlands in High Street, Kangaroo Flat.
The demolition of the bush and wetlands would make way for a 34-house development on the site.
Along with Cr Cox, Elise Chapman, Helen Leach and James Williams voted against the development.
Mark Weragoda, Lisa Ruffell, Rod Fyffe and Rod Campbell voted for the motion.
Cr Cox said he only saw the land in detail for the first time last Tuesday.
“I have taken a video of the land and contacted a number of people with expertise in these matters to see if there is room for a rescission motion,” he said. Cr Cox said he spoke to a number of people about the issue after Wednesday’s council meeting.
“It's a treasure in the middle of Kangaroo Flat. I believe the ecological assessment that has been done is not up to par,” he said.
“A motion for the development of 34 lots on this particular piece of land have been passed on the casting vote of the mayor,” Cr Cox said.
“That says to me that there are some other options to explore. When we have new information we will decide if we can proceed but the CEO has to got agree to it.”