Commending council

The majority of Baw Baw Shire councillors who voted to refuse a rural house at Neerim South (Gaz 7/7) are to be commended for upholding the intention of the Planning Scheme. Contrary arguments of the minority were mostly specious.

The point of a farm zone is to protect farmland from fragmentation and alienation for other than permitted uses, which do not include ‘growing rural communities’, Cr Leaney.

Nor does council have ‘to give people an opportunity to develop an existing lot’, Cr Wallace. It’s the people applying for permission to put houses on small lots in farm zones who have to demonstrate to council that residential occupation is essential for, and ancillary to, primary use of the land for genuinely commercial farming.

An arguably rural residential character of a neighbourhood in a farm zone – mostly resulting from historically laxer planning criteria and, usually, bad decisions by previous councils – is no reason to add to the proliferation. An application must qualify on its own merit.

Discretion to permit residential development of small lots should be invoked only with utmost caution. A house inflates the value of land beyond its commercial value, even for niche farming uses. There’s no guarantee a farm management plan will be implemented and, sooner or later, the primary purpose is likely to be rural residential or hobby farming, which are not permitted uses of farm zone land.

When deciding planning applications, council is acting as the Responsible Authority, a delegation from the Minister for Planning. Councillors are no less bound by the Planning

Trees are like grass they just take longer to grow. Most of Australia’s forest/parks should be open to forestry production. This would give us a sustainable hardwood industry into the future, and safeguard our environment (forest, animals and birdlife) against catastrophic fires.

The timber industry is as old as civilisation. Wood fashioned into shelters (housing) in every continent on earth.

Why are we trying to close down this amazing industry that is part of this great nations history?

The men and women working in the timber industry are all experts in the field of forestry management. We cannot afford to lose this expertise.

I commend Member for Narracan Gary Blackwood for his factual article last week on our valuable timber industry.

I have always been intrigued by environmentalists activities and the so called apparent anti land developer bias.

For example if you start back at the beginning. On a PSP zoned farm there is usually not many native trees about for the reason being that animal farms require grass production. One can argue that there will be more trees established on that farm when re- developed as a residential land project. An example:

A net increase on all the road nature reserves , as well as in private home owners gardens, and the developer contribution to parks and gardens. There should be credits not penalties for development.

Regarding the ‘Hollies” homestead in Drouin, until recently no one had ever heard of it. I have been going past this place daily for the past 50-55 years and have seen the place gradually deteriorate to the present state (beyond repair) for at least the past 20 years.

To the group/people that are advocating seeing this house ‘repaired’. Are they aware that the ratepayer/taxpayer will be required to fund the $1 to $2M in an attempt to restore the site?

What will the building be used for? More so than ever we have to become more selective/subjective on spending ratepayer funds.

Like the railway goods shed in Warragul,