Residential development wins council support – Moorabool Shire council meeting briefs

MOORABOOL Shire councillors voted at their March meeting to adopt a planning scheme amendment allowing a 400-lot housing development at Hopetoun Park North.

Planning Scheme Amendment C103moor involves rezoning 62 hectares of land from Farming Zone to Neighbourhood Residential Zone.

It includes community and open space infrastructure that will serve a population of an estimated 1200 people.

The site is just south of the Western Freeway and adjoins the existing suburb of Hopetoun Park.

The Shire referred the amendment to a planning panel in July last year after 32 submissions were lodged, primarily concerning lot sizes, native habitat and local fauna impacts, and perceived negative effects on residential amenity.

The panel’s report was received late last year and recommended the amendment be adopted.

An officer’s report to the meeting said the developer had committed to providing 2ha of active open space, an outdoor netball court with lighting, and 0.43ha of land and 48 per cent of construction costs for a community facility.

“Amendment C103moor has a strong strategic justification and development of the amendment site will make an important contribution towards the State Government’s housing targets,” the report said.

It said the amendment had been through a rigorous public exhibition and planning panel process and it was appropriate that it be adopted.

The amendment will now be submitted to Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny for final approval.

Aqueduct petition tabled

A 69-signature petition seeking support for moves to save a disused aqueduct in Ballan was tabled at the meeting.

The petition was organised by the Moorabool Environment Group, which fears the land will be sold for residential development.

The aqueduct runs from opposite Crossroads Trading to the Western Freeway and is owned by Barwon Water, but the environment group believes it is “at risk” of being sold to a developer who has already bought 90ha of farmland east of the aqueduct track.

“Many of us want this strip of land to be saved and kept as a walking/bike track for the public,” the petition said.

“The aqueduct has historical value (built in 1900) and provides habitat for frogs and native grasses.

“The track offers a perfect opportunity for a hike and bike track.”

Lead petitioner Rose De la Cruz told the meeting that signatures were being added to the petition daily and at the time of the meeting would have easily numbered as many as 100.

She urged the council to do everything it could to protect the land from housing development.

Councillors voted to accept the petition, with officers to respond in due course.

Residents’ ‘no’ to FOGO bins

A majority of residents in five locations in the municipality have indicated they do not want an opt-in food organics-garden organics (FOGO) kerbside collection service.

Seventy-one per cent of 616 respondents to a survey in Gordon, Mount Egerton, Myrniong, Greendale, Dales Creek and Blackwood said they would not take up a kerbside service if it was offered.

The survey was carried out in response to a notice of motion last September to investigate the possibility of expanding the Shire’s kerbside FOGO collection to those areas.

Residential areas of Bacchus Marsh, Darley, Maddingley, Hopetoun Park and Ballan already have the option to take up a green waste collection service.

The State Government has introduced new rules that will require councils to provide a FOGO service in urban areas by 1 July next year, with municipalities like Moorabool having discretion to also roll out kerbside FOGO services beyond urban zones.

The survey targeted 2802 rural properties, with most replying that they preferred on-site composting to kerbside collections.

Of the 616 responses, 178 or 29 per cent indicated an interest in a kerbside FOGO collection service while 438 or 71 per cent indicated no interest.

The greatest interest came from Dales Creek where 18 of 31 respondents, or 58 per cent, said they would welcome a service.

The highest negative response came from Gordon, where 54 of 75 people who responded (or 71 per cent) said they were not interested.

Despite the responses, the Shire will still consider offering an optional FOGO service to residents of the five townships because about 360 properties (about 38 per cent) had indicated they would opt in.

Waste strategy adopted on casting vote

Mayor Cr Steve Venditti-Taylor was forced to use his casting vote to break a deadlock over the proposed adoption of the Shire’s Kerbside Waste and Resource Recovery Policy.

Councillors Jarrod Bingham, Tom Sullivan, Paul Tatchell and Ally Munari voted against the adoption while councillors Rod Ward, Sheila Freeman, John Keogh and Venditti-Taylor voted for it.

Cr Venditti-Taylor used his casting vote because Cr Moira Berry, who had been participating in the meeting online, had lost connection.

Cr Ward moved the policy’s adoption, saying it was a matter of complying with a government-mandated policy.

He said he agreed with the recommended deferral of a kerbside glass collection service because the container deposit scheme seemed to be working so well.

“The…policy is in line with the state legislation and allows those who want to opt in to additional services to do so, so I’m certainly in favour of it,” he said.

But Cr Sullivan objected, arguing that a municipality-wide waste charge that is applied to every rateable property raised money that went to things outside the realm of waste management.

“I don’t think that people should have to pay for sweeping of the streets; I don’t see that as relevant,” he said.

Cr Sullivan said governments were rightfully slated for cost-shifting, but that was an example of internal cost-shifting.

“It goes against the grain when we’re loading up the waste charge on things that I see don’t have a direct correlation between the person who pays and the service that’s provided,” he said.

Cr Tatchell said rural municipalities like Moorabool were disadvantaged by decisions made in cities and found themselves having to shift costs.

“It really needs to be overhauled,” he said.

Closing debate, Cr Ward said guidelines in determining waste fees had been signed off on by the Essential Services Commission several years ago and the Shire’s existing cost recovery model ensured fees were collected equitably and were cost-neutral to the council.

Blue Tree could be coming to Moorabool

Cr Ward successfully moved a notice of motion that an investigation take place into establishing a Blue Tree Project tree – or more than one – in the shire.

He said he had seen a blue tree in a country town while travelling recently and found out why it was there – as an awareness measure about men’s mental health.

“I thought ‘What a wonderful initiative’,” Cr Ward said. “If we were able to establish one blue tree somewhere in the shire…and it potentially saves one life I think it’s fantastic.”

Cr Ward said he was not suggesting that the council fund a tree but rather see if it could support one.

Cr Sullivan spoke against the move, although he stressed he did not wish to “belittle” the initiative.

“But to me, it presumes that Moorabool Shire doesn’t sort of care or do much in this space,” he said.

He said the Shire already had many policies related to mental health.

Cr Sullivan said he understood where Cr Ward was coming from, but to give an impression that the Shire was not already active in mental health was incorrect.

Cr Freeman agreed that Moorabool was doing a lot for mental health but strongly supported the motion.

Cr Munari said she thought the Blue Tree Project was “wonderful”, but the three things people mainly approached her about were “the three Rs” (roads, rates and rubbish).

“So that is why I’m not comfortable with this notice of motion,” she said.

Cr Munari said the council would be better served by supporting a community group in the mental health field.

“I have attended many mental health sessions that council has put on over the years, and we do do a good job of it,” she said.

“But we can’t do everything; I know that sounds really blunt, but we can’t.”

Cr Bingham spoke in favour of the motion, recognising that there was “a lot of passion in this room”, but he had not known what the blue tree was and it prompted him to find out.

“I see where the objectors are coming from but I will be supporting Cr Ward’s motion,” he said.

Cr Tatchell said the Blue Tree Project was a brilliant initiative but the motion was not the council’s core business.

It could have been approached a different way, he said, possibly by a council committee or asking someone in the community to take it up.

“There’s a better way of doing this and you get a better result,” Cr Tatchell said. “You don’t put bureaucracy into mental health, you put resources.”

Cr Keogh said: “If the blue tree procedure can help save one tortured soul’s life from suicide I believe it is worthwhile.”

Cr Keogh pointed out that the motion was only calling for a report on the matter, not actually implementing a tree.

Closing debate, Cr Ward said he was taken aback by some of the debate.

He said there was no suggestion that a blue tree would come at a cost to roads, rates or rubbish – or any cost at all.

“It may be as simple as advertising and saying that we are interested in talking to local artists who may be interested in this project. Bang; done,” he said.

Cr Ward said he was offended by any perception that his motion was belittling what the Shire was already doing for mental health.

The motion was carried but Cr Freeman called for a division. In favour were councillors Bingham, Freeman, Ward, Keogh and Venditti-Taylor.

Councillors Sullivan, Tatchell and Munari were against.