Big Perth plan on table

Longford farmer applies for 116-lot subdivision

ONE of the biggest names in Tasmanian farming has applied to create a 116-lot, staged subdivision on land he owns in the Northern Midlands.

Longford man Hugh MacKinnon, whose 1360ha property ‘Mountford’ has been farmed for five generations and is best known for its 27ha berry operation, Mountford Berries, lodged the application over 19.14ha of vacant land at Perth between Napoleon St and the Midland Highway

Perth Link Rd. According to the application, lodged by planners PDA Surveyors on behalf of Mr MacKinnon’s company MacKinnon Estates Pty Ltd, the subdivision would be constructed in 11 stages.

Lot sizes would be between 720sq m and 1.06ha.

Two new roads would be built, with access via Napoleon St.

The existing gravity sewer system would need to be upgraded to service the subdivision, with Mr MacKinnon’s company needing to make arrangements with TasWater.

“Due to current constraints on the existing system, it was proposed that the developer would install a new sewer pump station, to be located on public open space (lot 305 on the plan) and rising main to discharge as per TasWater requirements, currently at the Perth Sewage Treatment Plant,” the PDA report said.

“However, obtaining owner consent, to date, for the proposed alignment of new rising main has proved to be unsuccessful.

“Therefore it is now proposed to connect additional lots, over and above 30, to the existing gravity system and accordingly contribute to or upgrade the existing system to TasWater’s requirement.”

The proposal, should it come to fruition, would result in an additional 500-plus vehicle movements per day by 2031, a traffic impact assessment report said.

“The traffic on Napoleon St is currently in the order of 50 vpd (vehicles per day) and is projected to increase to 617 vpd at each end by 2031 due to the proposal,” the report said. “Traffic on Phillip St and Edward St will vary between 600 and 1200 vpd between the western and eastern ends of each street.

“These traffic activity levels are broadly consistent with guidelines on liveability, safety and amenity for residential streets and assessed as acceptable.”

The proposal is being publicly exhibited by Northern Midlands Council until January 17.