FINNISS ELECTORATE

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (15:52): The old Chinese proverb 'May you live in interesting times' is never so applicable as it is currently on the South Coast, given the decisions of the past couple of weeks. The first decision I turn to is that of the $250 million Encounter Bay development proposal put up by the Makris Corporation which was approved subject to a number of encumbrances and other things put on it by the major project organisation.

The fact is that any local member in their right mind in this place would not turn their nose up at the opportunity to have $250 million invested in one project in their electorate, or I would be very surprised if they would anyway. Suffice to say that this project has taken some 2½ years to go through this major project status, and I believe that it has been about 4½ to 5 years since it was first thought about by the Makris Corporation, but we are yet to see it come to fruition. That will take a considerable period of time.

It has had a mixed reaction in the community, particularly the Victor Harbor business community. It has caused concern for some and it has been greeted with a great deal of gusto by others. That is always going to be the case in any community and Victor Harbor is no different. It is also of interest to me to note that the current redevelopment of the Victor Central Shopping Centre, which is making it about one-third bigger than it was, which is a considerable size, seems not to have attracted as much concern.

However, the major project status which has resulted in the Encounter Bay proposal has changed its scope considerably. There is quite a bit more development of a residential nature than there was and my understanding—and I will stand corrected on this—is that the 36,000 square metres originally envisaged has been drafted down to about 20,000 square metres, but I am willing to be corrected on that.

The other controversy down there is the proposed redevelopment of the Crown Hotel. This has also resulted in a lot of consternation and concern across the community of Victor Harbor. I recall that some years ago a proposal was put forward which was never proceeded with—whether it was agreed to, I am not sure. It was a six-storey proposal which would have gone ahead under the current guidelines.

However, the Victor Harbor council's development assessment committee has rejected the latest proposal to redevelop the Crown, and I am concerned and disappointed that the proponents did not put forward an application that complied with the criteria of the council's development plan in so far as it went over the height limit, and the development assessment panel had no option but to refuse it. There seems to be a little bit of confusion in the community as to how these processes take place, and that is something that I believe is probably a problem in many areas across the state, where people just do not understand the planning operations of councils and the development plans they have to abide by.

Let me say that I also would support some redevelopment of the Crown Hotel in Victor Harbor. I do not believe for one moment that the climate on Fleurieu Peninsula and around Victor Harbor will ever lend itself to being a Gold Coast; it is far from the Gold Coast climate-wise, but a good development there would be welcome, provided it met the criteria. It is interesting that a $100 million project was knocked off by the Victor Harbor council's development assessment panel purely because it did not comply, and in my view it acted appropriately. However, where all this ends is that the growth rate down on the south coast from Goolwa right through to the bluff at the southern end of Victor Harbor is expected to be so large that I do not see how the local authorities—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I was letting the honourable member finish his sentence, but his time has expired.