PAT Lewis loved the wedge-tailed eagles that soared over the open land behind his block, so he moved to Doreen.
He bought his block in 2008 and built a dream home for his wife and two children, and claims he checked with authorities, and says he was assured the land would remain open space.
But landowner Ivanhoe Grammar School has had plans for the land for a long time, said school business manager Leyton Miles.
The school wants 26-hectares of undeveloped land south of the campus, 700 metres south of Bridge Inn Road and east of the Plenty River, rezoned to residential and sold.
“What will happen to the kangaroos and all the other wildlife, and the stands of river red gum?” Mr Lewis said.
“I probably wouldn’t have bought here if I’d known the school land would become housing.”
Mr Lewis is the only resident objecting to the school’s proposal but he fears the loss of habitat will affect native wildlife, and in turn the whole community.
He said several hundred more homes on the school site would aggravate existing traffic flow and congestion problems on roads he claimed were not designed to cope with existing traffic.
A report to the council last week said the school had asked for a rezoning in 2009, but the proposal had lapsed. The council will ask the Planning Minister, Matthew Guy, to approve the exhibition of a rezoning amendment for the school and consider using an independent planning panel to consider any unresolved complaints.
Mr Miles said the land had been earmarked for development for ‘‘quite some time’’, including in the Vantage Point Development Plan approved by Whittlesea Council in 2004.“The School in conjunction with the City of Whittlesea has and will continue to work extensively with the Department of Sustainability and Environment and Parks Victoria to ensure all flora and fauna and traffic issues are appropriately dealt with,’’ he said.
