'Outraged' residents torpedo car park plan for historic submarine

Greater Hume Council is reviewing a development application that seeks to sell the designated "community land" to Holbrook IGA.

The business hopes to expand its supermarket and hardware store, resulting in the paving over of the war memorial to extend the car park.

To facilitate the sale, the council is in the process of changing the land from "community" to "operational" status.

However, several hurdles, including a community consultation process, must be overcome before the application is approved.

While some residents are against the plan, saying it would take away from the town's history, the shire's mayor said it was an opportunity the town "can't afford to miss".

Morrie Jeppesen, a Vietnam veteran from Holbrook, stands strongly against the proposal, citing the historical significance of the park dedicated to Commander Holbrook's memory.

"I'm opposed to it because it's a historical park and it's named in memory of Commander Holbrook, who the town is named after," he said.

"This is the park that actually gave Holbrook the nickname, the submarine town.

"To me, it's just ridiculous: They're going to pull up a park in the middle of town, a historical monument, a park that's declared a War Memorial Park.

"What are they going to do? Call it the Commander Holbrook War Memorial Car Park?"

The park was established as a war memorial in 1971, at a ceremony where the B11 submarine was first unveiled.

However, the council does not conduct any ceremonies on the site.

Mr Jeppesen questioned the need to sacrifice the war memorial when, he believes, the IGA already has sufficient parking.

"The IGA has over 50 car parks available at the front of its store and the vast tracts of vacant land besides Bickley's Automotive and further vacant land through to Thorp Street and Wallace Street," he said.

"I find it astounding that council would even consider the sale of a dedicated war memorial park to IGA for commercial gain."

If the proposal succeeds, the heritage-listed submarine and associated memorial gates will be relocated to Ten Mile Creek Gardens, and integrated into the Holbrook War Memorial.

Responding to concerns raised by residents, Greater Hume mayor Tony Quinn emphasised the community's desire for development, saying, "what is going to happen is progress".

"By and large, the people want what's going to happen," he said.

"Developers want to put in a bigger supermarket and a hardware store to give the future people a whole lot of opportunities to go out and shop locally.

"You can knock these things back if you want to, but at the end of the line is somebody else will get them and then the place will wither up."

Cr Quinn equated the pushback to the initial resistance faced during the Holbrook Hotel restoration.

"When the pub was being remodelled, there was quite a lot of people jumping up and down and complaining about this, that, and the other thing," he said.

"Of course, now that it's developed and it's a brilliant business, that's all gone and everybody's praising it. This is what happens in life.

"But you've got a process, like in this case now, and anywhere along the line people can object.

"If the objection stands up, well, the project just doesn't go ahead."

Holbrook resident Ben Donahoo said the changes would impact the town's history and culture.

"It's exactly the same as moving the Eiffel Tower in Paris - you just don't do that," he said.

"I want to raise my kids to have the same knowledge of history that I did. This park is sacred ground for Holbrook, it just doesn't make sense that we should move it."

Carl Prentice, another resident, expressed concern over the gradual erosion of the town's identity in favour of corporate interests.

"I like to see it where it is because I like the history behind it," he said.

"Small country towns are losing their identity to make way for big business.

"The IGA is a big business saying, 'we want it, we've got the money to pay for this, you can't have it'.

"That's the thing that I don't like."

A date for the community consultation meeting has not yet been set.

Holbrook IGA was contacted for comment.