AT the Golden Plains Shire\u2019s final council meeting of the term, councillors granted a planning permit for an unmanned fuelling station east of Rokewood on Rokewood-Shelford Road.<\/p>\n
Written objections from residents on neighbouring farming properties expressed concern regarding potential light spill, truck noise and fuel run-off endangering the health of their livestock.<\/p>\n
Cr David Evans said potential diesel spills at the unmanned station could be a risk, but director infrastructure and development, Phil Josipovic said there are alarm systems in place in case \u201clarger than usual\u201d amounts of fuel flow from pumps.<\/p>\n
He added that most station lights will be off until they sense movement, and the application meets all safety requirements.<\/p>\n
Cr Nathan Hansford said the fuel station was an \u201cexcellent piece of infrastructure\u201d for the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s as long as we have things in place that will stop an environmental hazard, like the bowsers being fitted with knock-offs to close off the flow of fuel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegional Roads Victoria have addressed the entrance and exit, and I think in the long run this will be a good asset, particularly with the building of the wind farm coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
World Heritage stamp for Shire?<\/strong><\/p>\n Cr Helena Kirby reported on her recent experience as an attendee of a World Heritage Listing Zoom meeting.<\/p>\n She said it was informative, looking at protecting significant goldrush history throughout the region from Bendigo, to Ballarat, the Grampians and Golden Plains.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to take five years for this to hopefully get up off the ground. I\u2019m very proud that as a council, we\u2019ve been part of making this happen in our region,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe next step forward is getting our economic development team on board, and really trying to get some [protection] happening within our Shire.<\/p>\n \u201cThe heritage of the goldfields in Golden Plains Shire is what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n Cr Hansford said a World Heritage Listing would be beneficial for tourism.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Plan for Inverleigh passes<\/strong><\/p>\n Councillors adopted the 2019 Inverleigh Structure Plan which received 92 public submissions.<\/p>\n Crs Kirby and Evans voted to defer the adoption of the plan to the next elected council to give the community more time to consider the document, which Cr Evans said will be a \u201ctemplate for other small townships.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey need our protection to get this Structure Plan correct…and have ownership over [it],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mr Josipovic said it would take a new council a long time to get up-to-date with the detailed document which has been on the Shire\u2019s agenda for about six years, and the motion to defer was defeated.<\/p>\n Cr Des Phelan said the process could continue to go \u201con and on\u201d as there will always be people who disagree with the plan.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not going to be governed by people trying to pull us down. The people of Inverleigh have got to get over it and move on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Buyer beware<\/strong><\/p>\n The Golden Plains Planning Scheme will be amended to decrease the amount of land subject to inundation overlay next to the Moorabool River and in Riverstone Estate at Batesford.<\/p>\n Earthworks at the estate have changed the floodplain and the LSIO is no longer appropriate.<\/p>\n Cr Evans said he wasn\u2019t \u201centirely happy\u201d with work on the floodplain at Riverstone.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving gone down there and had a good look at it, there are issues with blocks of land to be sold, so buyer beware,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other issue going forward in the future, when there\u2019s higher density development, is that the amount of water that will flow through those properties might surprise a few of those buyers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll probably get the blame if somebody\u2019s backyard washes away. If I was a developer, would I sell blocks like that? Probably not.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Works within budget<\/strong><\/p>\n Director corporate services, Philippa O\u2019Sullivan said the Shire is $500,000 \u201cmore favourable\u201d to the revised budget, as reported in the recent finance quarter four document summarising end-of-year financials.<\/p>\n \u201cWe achieved $21.4 million in capital projects over this last year, on top of major impacts, especially around COVID which caused major issues with project delivery,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cOverall, the year has been successful… We\u2019ve come in on budget, delivered a number of programs, and some of the main variances related to employees where there have been [differences] in turnover, recruitment of new employees versus when people have departed, and some lower costs in materials and contracts related to COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Begbies to build bridge<\/strong><\/p>\n Rokewood\u2019s Reserve Road Bridge replacement works tender has been awarded to Haddon business, Begbies Contracting for $393,583.86<\/p>\n Cr Kirby said it was a great outcome for local residents on \u201cthe backroads\u201d of Rokewood.<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially if they\u2019re involved in farming. To have a contract awarded to one of our local businesses is a must and a win for our whole Shire,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing forward with COVID, the more stimulus within our communities is going to be great for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Earthworks will be done in-house by the Shire, and any unspent funds from the bridge project will be directed to widening works on Meredith-Shelford Road.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n