Accommodating Lorne’s Future

A place to live, a place to work, a place to visit

Foreword:

The Committee for Lorne has as one of its specific projects, determining how best to accommodate Lorne’s Future. Committee member, Professor Graham Brawn has devoted much time over the past four years to this goal.

The project is a direct response to the current situation in Lorne where many young families are unable to purchase property because of the prices, long term rental accommodation is difficult to find and the lack of accommodation for seasonal workers. CfL has been working on the problem for some years now. In the early stages, Nicola Muxworthy, then a member of the CfL Committee was successful in having the Shire work directly with CfL to scope the problem and identify possible options to provide a range of solutions for affordable accommodation. Nicola also established a relationship between Committee for Lorne and the University of Western Sydney. The University selected four areas in Australia where affordable accommodation was a key issue and is currently working with representatives for all four areas, of which Lorne is one, to develop a model for a Community Land Trust. The Trust document will be a model of governance under which, say, the Lorne Community Land Trust, could manage land and buildings to provide an accommodation option for eligible people who would be unable to secure accommodation in the commercial environment.

Graham Brawn who is Professor Emeritus of the faculty of Architecture at University of Melbourne, is the Committee’s liaison with the Community Land Trust Project. He has also run a series of projects involving final year students from the Faculty of Architecture to investigate tracts of land in and around Lorne which might prove suitable for the type of accommodation we seek.

The students have investigated the land and provided a range of design options which meet criteria in terms of landscape, environment and social needs, whilst at the same time ensuring compliance with relevant panning guidelines and bushfire safety requirements.

Graham’s approach can be summed as, “Seeking Social and Economic Resilience, but not losing the special coastal setting, scale and character.”

The Committee for Lorne has identified the key criteria for providing affordable accommodation options:

Retain the character
Respect the vistas
Respect the landscape
Keep the Lorne we love a resilient society and economy

The Committee for Lorne has lobbied very diligently in the past few months with the strong support of our Ward Councillor, Clive Goldsworthy, to ensure that there is a provision in the Surf Coast Shire’s 2017/18 budget for a project to update the Lorne Structure and Strategy Plan. This will be a vital step in ensuring the plan for Lorne recognises the need for additional accommodation options. It will give special credence to any case we need to present for making land available.

The work is not finished yet, but we now have options and potential solutions, developed with community involvement and input, to present to the relevant agencies to achieve a successful outcome to accommodating Lorne’s future.

Continue Reading:

More information about the project “Accommodating Lorne’s Future” will become available in the coming weeks.