8.10pm
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
BENDIGO'S council has blocked pet therapists' bid to set up next to an old mining dam in Woodvale.
It comes despite the Environmental Protection Authority distancing itself from a briefing document circulated ahead of the vote; and a push from one councillor to let the project go ahead.
Pet therapists wanted to set up a small farming operation to keep about 20 farm animals on.
Pet therapy has become increasingly important for treating a range of conditions including post traumatic stress disorder and dementia in recent years.
"I feel that this is a much needed addition to the health and wellbeing of our community," Cr Greg Penna told fellow elected officials as they discussed the proposal on Monday night.
His position garnered no support from fellow councillors, including Cr Jen Alden.
"Historic scientific data would seem to indicate that the area is not suitable for any disturbance and this would preclude construction of the dwelling and any animal enterprise associated with it," she said.
Large amounts of arsenic found its way to the site via water pumped by miners from deep underground in the past, some of which was sprayed into the air to aid evaporation, Cr Alden said.
Cr Penna said no regulatory agency including the EPA had objected to the site on human health grounds.
The EPA had previously raised concerns about a "strong sulfur odour" that sometimes wafted off the site in summer, according to a council officer report circulated ahead of the meeting.
That position differed starkly from the one the EPA released on Monday afternoon, several hours before councillors voted.
They said the smell had been rectified and was no longer an issue.
Cr Alden acknowledged that but said the council ought to use a precautionary approach when looking at sites from Bendigo's mining past.
Cr David Fagg also objected to the proposal.
He said it would fragment land previously set aside for farming.
Council staff had previously said the proposal would not meet those requirements because they rested heavily on plans for a pet therapy business, which could vanish if the site was one day sold.
"I can see that there would be some agricultural benefits however, these would be incidental," Cr Fagg said.
"So I'm inclined to agree with the council officers' recommendation."
Cr Julie Sloan agreed and said there would be other places zoned for less stringent rural uses.
"The farming zone has been facing increasing pressures in recent years because of subdivisions and residential development," she said.
Cr Sloan said the main threat to the zone was coming from people looking for rural lifestyles, not strictly for farming.
Earlier
VICTORIA'S environmental regulator says it has no concerns about the smell from old Woodvale mining ponds as Greater Bendigo councillors prepare to vote on permissions for a new house and business nearby.
The Environmental Protection Authority's advice is in stark contrast to the position quoted in a City of Greater Bendigo briefing document circulated to coucillors ahead of a meeting tonight.
That report quoted the EPA saying it had "received numerous community complaints since 2016 about a strong sulphur odour being released from the evaporation ponds".
The report went on to characterise the EPA as saying that "developing a dwelling on an adjacent parcel of land may increase complaints about the existing evaporation pond facility".
The council had consulted the EPA about a private party's application to build a home and pet therapy business close to Woodvale's old evaporation ponds, which miners used to pump in water filling underground Bendigo diggings.
The EPA told the council that it had no objections but raised concerns about "human health and amenity of the dwelling use", according to council documents made public ahead of the vote.
But the authority has now clarified that it has no current concerns about the stink that once wafted off of the ponds in summer.
"Historic concerns about a sulphur odour have been addressed by recent remedial projects," the EPA said in a statement.
It said it was highlighting historic concerns about a dwelling close to the ponds.
Regulators have long said they could manage the site and keep it safe for nearby residents despite some advocates' past concerns about potentially toxic minerals on site.
That has included pumping water into the ponds during summer and maintaining caps on potentially dangerous material.
Mining regulator Earth Resources Regulation has been working on plans to transform the unused ponds back into farmland.
It is unclear how the EPA's clarification might shape debate on the house and pet therapy business proposal when councillors discuss the matter tonight.
Council officers had previously said the proximity of the land to the ponds' "contaminated site" would be a "key consideration" for councillors.
"Application of the precautionary principle would indicate that the placement of a dwelling close to the evaporation facility is not an acceptable outcome for either the occupants of that dwelling nor the operation of the evaporation ponds," they said.
That advice appeared to rest heavily on the understanding that the EPA had concerns about increased complaints.
The EPA's clarification does not affect a separate objection that council staff had to the proposal.
The 16.6 hectare site sits in an area zoned for farming, which is supposed to protect land for agriculture.
Council officers fear it is too small to appeal to "genuine farmers", should current owners one day decide to sell it.
If you're reading this it's because you're a loyal subscriber to the Bendigo Advertiser. If you want to get more out of your subscription join the discussion on the Bendigo Advertiser's subscriber group on Facebook today.
Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
