No shed after deadlock

By Lachlan Ellis

A recommendation for a dwelling, shed and pool to be built at Chapmans Road, Gordon, has been rejected, following a 3-3 deadlock.

Prior to Councillors voting on the recommendation, two speakers addressed Council: the applicant, Pauline Alabakis, and an objector, Mark Weigall.

Ms Alabakis said she had grown up on a market garden, and hoped a successful application would let her pass the lifestyle down to her kids.

“I’ve been a landowner of the property in Gordon alongside my father for 25 years now. I grew up on a market garden, I was raised to work on the land with my family from around 6 years of age,” she said.

“At this point in time the property is vacant, being able to live and build on the land and run a small-scale farm would obviously maximise use of the property.”

The property is close to a dam which feeds into Millbrook Lakes, a popular fly-fishing area. Objector Mark Weigall, who founded Millbrook Lakes over 20 years ago, voiced his concerns that Ms Alabakis’ plans could threaten the nearby environment and water quality, putting his business at risk.

“Millbrook is a long-established fly-fishing lake…we’ve put a great degree of work into the area…the habitat we need to create prime trout fishing waters is totally dependent on what we’ve done to protect them,” Mr Weigall said.

Water usage and the number of animals on the property were major concerns to Mr Weigall.

“The chicken component worries me; the entire watershed ends up in the lake. My concern is that the nitrates, phosphates and water quality from that property would be detrimental to what we’ve built up over the last 25 years,” he said.

To read the full story – Simply click on the following link

https://issuu.com/themooraboolnews/docs/mn_2022-01-25/8

in the 25 January 2022 edition
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pick up a paper around your town.