Farmgate faces closure over council quarrel

A MUCH-loved farmgate established during the pandemic is at risk of closing following permit issues and an ensuing Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal case with Golden Plains Shire.

For almost five years, The Smythes Creek Farmgate, formerly The Ballarat Mushroom Farm, has supplied local and Australian produce to the community.

After having spent around $100,000 in complying with the municipality’s shifting permit requirements over that time, co-owner Tanya Lunn said they’re now being told they don’t fit into Golden Plains Shire’s planning scheme.

“They were super supportive in the early days of COVID, getting us to help other people out during that period,” she said.

“They were amazing but a lot of the people there over COVID have left. The new people are not as supportive and don’t feel they can find a way to make us work.

“We were given the impression our permits were a formality. We were told don’t worry about them until COVID died down.”

Unable to lodge with the municipality as a farmgate due to no longer growing their own produce, nor a market due to running out of a permanent venue, the co-owners instead chose to operate under a convenience permit.

“Australian convenience actually allow 240 square metres of floor space. Golden Plains only allows 80,” Ms Lunn said. “We’re at 120 square metres.”

The co-owners have adapted trading from a marquee setup to their grow room to now operating a dedicated store space in place since last year which cost about three months of business to prepare.

Earlier this year, they were notified of the municipality’s intent to close the business initially via a post on a Scarsdale/Smythesdale community Facebook page.

“We were told our permits were not being allocated and we were trading unlawfully,” she said. “It was unbeknownst to us because council had our permits since March last year.

“The post was up on Friday night. It was taken down on Saturday, and we then found out on Monday via email from Golden Plains they weren’t issuing our permits.”

The co-owners are fighting against the decision via an application to VCAT, with the first hearing having taken place about a fortnight ago.

A GoFundMe page has been established to help cover the costs behind the campaign, which has so far seen more than $8000 donated.

“We know the support’s there and it’s amazing,” Ms Lunn said. “This doesn’t just affect us. It affects our suppliers.

“We’ve created a real community here and people don’t want to lose it. If we don’t get a good result, essentially we’ll go bankrupt and the last four and a half years will essentially be lost.”

The next VCAT hearing is set for early December. The GoFundMe page can be found at bit.ly/3Mb7oWL.