Colin Moore, President, Castlemaine Society Inc
The VCAT decision this week to reject a permit for two dwellings in the Farnsworth Street heritage precinct proves that the council are out of touch with good planning decisions.
The decision by the VCAT Senior Member stated the design does not respond acceptably to the heritage character of the locality and that he had not been persuaded that the proposed dwellings are an acceptable response to the heritage provisions or the site context.
Have we learnt anything from this? Any future planning applications to council must take into account this milestone decision to conserve the character of Castlemaine, which is currently under threat.
