A building once described as an "illegal" home is in limbo as a planning fight rages with the City of Greater Bendigo.
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Council officers said the land off Huntly's Steins Road includes a shed along with a structure they have described as part carport, part "annexures/huts" once illegally used as a home.
Both were built without a planning permit, the officers said.
They have been locked in "enforcement action" with people linked to the site since 2021, when the council knocked back a push for a home, other buildings, a driveway and removal of native vegetation.
At the time the council was concerned about the possible loss of agricultural land, bushfire risks, and the loss of native vegetation.
Shortcomings in new application
Council officers have now urged councillors to block a new permit application that would allow two buildings on the site to remain.
That includes storage used for maintenance of land and for animals agisted on nearby properties.
It does not include a request for a home and council officers have not suggested to councillors that anyone is living on the site.
The new application would also allow people to get rid of some vegetation to help with bushfire risks.
The CFA does not object and neither have any members of the public with properties nearby.
Council officers said that if they had been approached before the buildings went up, they would have told applicants to start construction on another part of the site which did not require trees to be removed.
Council officers also had concerns about vehicle access and questioned whether the buildings were necessary.
"The applicant has failed to demonstrate that the store buildings are genuinely required to support ongoing management and maintenance of the land," they said.
Council is set vote on the application at the Monday, April 22 meeting.