'A contentious $200m housing and resort project on 170ha, proposed by the Urban Property Corporation for the Barham River flats, between Apollo Bay and the village of Marengo to its south had support from a State Government-appointed planning panel but split the Apollo Bay community and Colac Otway Shire council. But in both its Coastal Spaces and Great Ocean Road strategies, the Government identified Apollo Bay as a coastal town appropriate for some expansion but the idea was rejected by Planning Minister Justin Madden in 2009.'