Summerlands, Victoria

Summerland Victoria
Summerland
Postcode:	3922
Coordinates:	38°30′40″S 145°08′46″E
Location:	149 km (93 mi) SE of Melbourne 50 km (31 mi) W of Wonthaggi 14 km (9 mi) W of Cowes
LGA:	Bass Coast Shire
State District:	Bass
Federal Division:	Flinders

Summerland is a housing estate on Phillip Island in Victoria, Australia, located in the south-west corner of the island, close to a Little Penguin breeding colony. The majority of the estate has been purchased by the government and revegetated.

History

In the early 20th century the area had remained relatively untouched compared to the rest of the island, due to the land being of little pastoral or agricultural value to farmers. As a result the penguin colony survived where others on the island did not.

Subdivision of the area was carried out between the 1920s until the 1960s. The first subdivision consisted of 12 large allotments, along with features such as a roundabout and cypress trees that were still visible decades later. Between 1927 and 1931 227 new blocks were created, and in 1950s a further 437 blocks were created. The final subdivisions were carried out in 1958 and 1961 on land closer to the Nobbies. Much of the land was sold to speculators rather than those interested in building upon it, by 1974 only 11 percent of the 986 blocks of lands had been cleared or built upon.

Land buyback

The Summerland Estate was considered a blight on the landscape and a threat to the penguin colony, so by the 1970 the local shire commenced the buyback of land. In 1985 the Victorian Government announced that they would purchase all 774 allotments on the Summerland Peninsula to protect the penguin colony, setting up the 'Summerland Estate Buy-Back Program' with an end date of 2000, the land to be added to the Phillip Island Nature Park. During this period land owners could not improve their properties, or sell them to anyone but the Government. By 2007, 732 properties had been voluntarily sold by their owners, at a cost to the government of around a million dollars a year.

The buyback program was finalised in 2007, with the compulsorily acquisition of the final 42 properties (20 empty blocks and 22 with houses, held by 34 private owners) over 3 years costed at $15 million. In 2008 five property purchases were settled and agreement to purchase one property was reached, along with six negotiated purchase offers and one offer for compulsory acquisition. In 2008-09 14 properties were purchased taking the total number to 25, leaving 17 properties still to be acquired. It is intended that the Summerland Estate Buyback program will be completed by June 2010.