A Ballarat developer, who had ambitions to create a whopping 111-lot subdivision in the region's north-eastern outskirts, was found to have not provided the necessary paperwork to begin construction, the City of Ballarat has confirmed.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Vista Estate Pty Ltd, a company registered to the address of the Ballarat-based Gull and Co Group, submitted an application to the council to subdivide an area of land, known as Lot 2 Hillview Road, into 111 separate lots, each exceeding 800 square-metres. This application was advertised in early 2020 on the council's website.
The proposed subdivision was set to take place over four stages, with 74 lots having an area of between 801 and 900 square-metres, 20 ranging from 901 to 1000, 15 blocks sized from 1001 to 1500 square-metres and two plots exceeding this size.
The application spruiked the housing complex, which is situated near to the Yarrowee Creek, would aid in increasing the city's housing diversity and would be suited to families.
Prior to commencing construction works, the developer was required to provide the council with a Construction Management Plan (CMP), due to the land being located in a Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO), Environmental Significance Overlay (ESO) and a Vegetation Protection Overlay (VPO).
A CMP was also needed to ensure the protection of koalas due to the site being in an area of koala habitat as well as to prevent sediment runoff into the Yarrowee River waterways.
In their first planning report, Vista Estate outlined a "3.055 hectare patch of native vegetation" comprising 46 trees would be removed.
However, they wrote "important vegetation along the Yarrowee River" considered to be of "high value" would be retained through a "riverine buffer".
The plan highlighted under no circumstances were construction works to take place unless the CMP was submitted to the council and then approved by the relevant superintendent.
Two key stipulations of the CMP also required "a liaison officer for contact by the public and the Responsible Authority in the event of relevant queries or problems experienced".
It also emphasised if erosion occurred during the construction phase it was the responsibility of "the contractors to rectify the erosion".
In a second planning report advertised in November 2020, a second CMP added further "soil erosion control measures" would be "employed throughout the construction stage of the development in accordance with Construction Techniques for Sediment Pollution Control, EPA 1991".
"No polluted and/or sediment laden run-off is to be discharged directly or indirectly into Yarrowee River," it wrote.
REPORT NOT RECEIVED
While the proposal was "strongly supported" by the City of Ballarat, the council confirmed to The Courier it did not in fact receive the required CMP before Vista Estate began construction works.
City of Ballarat acting director of development and growth Joanna Cuscaden said the council was only made aware that activity had started on the site when a complaint was made by a community member in December 2021.
The complaint cited sedimentation pollution into the Yarrowee River was allegedly due to construction works undertaken by Vista Estate.
"They started without us; the planning permit was triggered by the works when they commenced it and we had not at that point received the CMP," Ms Cuscaden said.
"It's the responsibility of the applicant to comply with the planning permit we issue for them."
The council issued an immediate "notice to cease works" on February 15 2022 after receiving the resident's complaint and a consequent inspection of the property which revealed "breaches of the planning permit".
Vista Estate submitted a CMP to the City of Ballarat on March 4 2022 which was later endorsed by the council on June 1 2022.
"Council officers entered into discussions with the property owner and its consultants to ensure the works were being carried out in accordance with the planning permit," Ms Cuscaden said.
"The City of Ballarat has issued Infringement Notices to the property owner in relation to the sediment run-off into the Yarrowee."
Gull Group declined to comment on the matter.
EPA INVOLVEMENT
In a media statement, EPA chief executive Lee Miezis said the authority had become aware of the issues in February of that year and has since done multiple inspections of the site.
"The Supreme Court action is EPA's next step in the legal process to stop the pollution we allege is being caused by the construction activity," Mr Miezis said.
While Vista Estate agreed to monitor any water runoff at their Brown Hill construction site in a subsequent hearing after a request by the EPA, including retention dams to prevent sediment leakage and checking water quality daily, the developer made no admission of liability.
DEVELOPERS ATTEMPTED TO REMEDY COMMUNITY CONCERN
In a council delegate report seen by The Courier it revealed the 111-lot proposal elicited six objections from community members.
These concerns mainly stemmed around the removal of extensive native vegetation such as key habitats for native fauna including black cockatoos, kookaburras, rosellas and kangaroos.
There were also issues raised regarding whether the plans were an overdevelopment of the land.
While Vista Estate initially denied the opportunity to participate in a mediation meeting with objectors it did accept a second offer to do so on January 16 2020.
The consultation, attended by the applicant, objectors and council planning officers, did see amendments made to the developer's initial plans to aid in remedying the complaints raised.
This included the applicant adapting their plans to increase the amount of land set aside for open space from 5.79 to 7.2 hectares to increase the amount of native vegetation that was retained.
They also decreased the number of lots proposed from 111 to 95. These amended plans were recirculated to objectors, however no objections were withdrawn at the time and objectors "overwhelmingly" maintained that their original concerns had not been adequately resolved.
IN THE NEWS:
Although, the adapted proposal did provide a "detailed arboricultural report" which identified the trees to be removed were "not a primary koala habitat" along with a "native vegetation offset report" which was marked as satisfactory by the then Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) now, Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA).
It was also confirmed the "riverine buffer" put in place to act as shield between the development and the Yarrowee River was kept in tact.
A further directions hearing, EPA vs Vista Estate, will be held on April 19 at the Common Law Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.
Malvika Hemanth
Malvika has a strong interest in covering stories on welfare, cost of living pressures and the arts. She works on the unceded lands of the Wadawurrung people and pays her respect to elders past, present and emerging.
Malvika has a strong interest in covering stories on welfare, cost of living pressures and the arts. She works on the unceded lands of the Wadawurrung people and pays her respect to elders past, present and emerging.
