‘Burra residents deflated

SOUTH Gippsland Shire Council made a last minute bid to appease Korumburra residents when adopting the controversial Burra Foods’ buffer zone last Wednesday.

Council approved the environmental significance overlay sought by Burra Foods to protect the factory from future high density residential development on its doorsteps and increase the likelihood of residents complaining about odour, noise and milk powder emissions.

Late last year, Burra Foods was the subject of five notices by the Environment Protection Authority in just one month, asking the company to address wastewater, emissions and odour management issues at the factory.

The overlay would also discourage such land uses as childcare and nursing homes within the buffer zone, but not ban further single houses on vacant lots.

The overlay will require residents within 227m of the factory to apply for a planning permit if they wish to extend their homes and also install costly building features such as double glazing to reduce the impact of noise, powder emissions, odour and light from the factory.

The buffer will still affect about 25 properties and some people claim will their property values will plummet.

Council planners initially recommended the permit only apply to extensions that increased a home’s floor area by 25 per cent but in a bid to make the overlay fairer to residents, council increased that to 50 per cent.

That change was made at the eleventh hour, between the public presentations that ended late morning last Wednesday and the council meeting that started at 2pm, despite the overlay being discussed since May last year, and the subject of much community angst and even an independent panel hearing.

So torn were councillors by balancing the community’s opposition to the overlay with Burra Foods’ desires, Cr Lorraine Brunt said she was undecided which way to vote, just minutes away from the vote being taken.

Councillors seemed to be overwhelmed by the complexity of the decision before them, with confusion surrounding meeting procedure during the Burra Foods vote.

Korumburra residents, who had gathered in the gallery to hear the vote, were far from satisfied with the outcome.

“Despite the floor plan size going from 25 to 50 per cent, the onus is still on us. Before Burra Foods started, 90 per cent of the houses were already there,” resident Mark Olsen said.

Resident Marie Gerrard-Stanton added, “It was frustrating to see the whole council confused after we had put months of work into it. It was all done at the last minute. It was totally unacceptable.”

Resident Les Guilfoyle said, “We never heard from the mayor, who is the head of council.”

Council also voted to ensure land east of the factory – known as area K in the Korumburra Structure Plan – remained zoned low density, thereby prohibiting more intensive development.

Not happy: Korumburra residents give South Gippsland Shire Council’s approval of the Burra Foods overlay ‘thumbs down’. Front, from left, Thea Dent and Viv Pepper. Middle, Marie Gerrard-Stanton, Neil Olsen and Samantha Brown. Back, Marilyn Rodger, Mark and Sophie Olsen, Les Guilfoyle and Glenn Brown.

Short URL: /?p=13936

Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Mar 3 2015. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry