A community group that has fought proposed broiler farms in Baringhup for a number of years is bracing itself for another legal battle and a fresh set of proposals from the developer.
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The state’s planning tribunal, VCAT, on Friday held a preliminary hearing for a case that involves the Mount Alexander Shire, developer Pavilion Partners and residents group Save the Moolort Plains, which has challenged the development in a number of jurisdictions.
The Court of Appeal in June upheld a final legal challenge from a the residents group who live close to the proposed development.
A planning application for three broiler farms was initially knocked back by the Mount Alexander Shire Council in 2015, and subsequently overturned by VCAT in 2016.
VCAT’s decision was supported by the Supreme Court in early 2017 but those decisions were in part set aside by three Court of Appeal justices in June, who sent the legal battle for two of the three farms back to the state’s planning umpire.
Save the Moolort Plains spokeswoman Marg Lewis attended the brief hearing last week which, she said, indicated the developers intention to resubmit plans with less broiler sheds on the proposed farms. “It will be interesting to see what he comes up with,” she said.
No orders have yet been made by the presiding VCAT member. Ms Lewis said the community should have an indication of what the new plans are by the end of October.
“After almost six years of battling the proposed plans the community remains strong but disappointed that planning laws allow this type of expensive and protracted action to take place with a seemingly endless repeat cycle,” she said.
The Court of Appeal hearing in June was made on four grounds, one of which stated that two houses situated within the required separation distance of 686 metres from the proposed farms were not considered during the VCAT hearing in 2016. The houses were built before VCAT made its ruling.
The Court of Appeal ruled VCAT was required to consider the facts in existence at the date of its decision.
The Bendigo Advertiser was unable to contact Director of Pavillion Partners Michael Vukadinovic for comment.
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