Heli of a fight in VCAT

Shire takes too long so Freshwater Creek chopper battle off to tribunal

THE fate of the controversial proposed Freshwater Creek helipad will be decided at VCAT as applicants hope for a more “neutral” decision to end a months-long “witch hunt”.

The Surf Coast Shire chose to ignore the advice given by council officers and defer making a decision on the planning permit application at last month’s council meeting, tip- ping the application over the statutory time limit.

The planning permit was lodged in November 2017 and seeks permission for a “maximum of nine helicopter movements occurring between 7am and 8pm daily” out of the Freshwater Creek property.

Applicants Tim and Kirsty Metcalf said they were looking forward to having their application heard in a “neutral” setting.

“We have lodged at VCAT and we feel we’ll get a more neutral decision rather than an emotive one,” Mrs Metcalf said.

“We feel like we have experienced quite a witch hunt.

“We’ve had a lot of intrusion through this process, had a lot of people sitting and watching us — it has not been a pleasant experience to go through at all.”

Cr Heather Wellington had raised concerns at the April meeting over whether the pro- posed helipad and helicopter carrier required a building permit, despite being given advice that it did not.

“You can build a massive shed that can hold three helicopters, and build a landing pad and then you can say it’s for farm use, and then five minutes later say it is for helicopter use,” she said in April.

“It didn’t get a planning permit in the first place because it was for farm use, and all of a sudden it becomes helicopter use. How does that work?”

Mrs Metcalf said she and her husband felt Cr Wellington voicing concerns had caused the council to not accurately or fairly assess their application.

“Rather than reviewing our application, they turned into something completely different,” she said.

Mrs Metcalf said the couple had bought a helicopter with the ability to transport large quantities of water in the hope of subcontracting to emergency services for the fire-prone summer season.

“Why wouldn’t they want that service on the edge of one of the most fire-prone areas on the globe?” she said.

Freshwater Creek’s Tarney Spencer is one of almost 50 objectors to the proposal.

“A lot of people are going to be affected by this. Who would want helicopters flying over their house up to 56 times a week?” he said.