Marong truce as farmer allows council on mooted business site

A Supreme Court hearing involving Max and Pauline Carter and the City of Greater Bendigo was abandoned yesterday, with the Carters giving the council permission to access their land for certain investigations.

In a joint statement released by the council, chief executive Craig Niemann said the Carter family had agreed to allow access to their land on a set of agreed terms relating to various matters including times of entry, those who may enter, and arrangements regarding the type of inspection or testing that may be carried out.

“It should be emphasised that the purpose of the entry and testing represents an investigation stage only and does not represent any decision by the city to proceed with the business park project,” Mr Niemann said.

“It will be many months until these investigations, together with a range of other factors, will be considered by the parties.”

The Carters have been battling the council for eight years over compulsory acquisition of the 300 hectares to make way for an industrial park on the Calder Highway.

The council and the Carters would not comment further on the agreement, but Mr Carter said he had not had a change of heart.

In March, council officers and contractors were kicked off the land after they tried to conduct soil tests. The council believes the business park is central to the region’s economic development.

At the time, mayor Rod Campbell said the investigations were critical to the Marong business park project because they would determine whether the site was appropriate for rezoning as industrial land for development.

“Until we have the results from the tests, a decision cannot be made about whether the property is suitable for such a development or not,” he said.

“The council and its representatives have the right under the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986 to enter the property and carry out the investi­gations.”

The tests were to include a general inspection and survey, soil and geo-technical sampling and testing, ground­water testing via bores – with some to remain as monitoring bores – flora and fauna, and indigenous and post-settlement heritage assessments.