Earthmover’s depot knocked back

Eve Lamb

Mount Alexander Shire Council has knocked back a proposal to develop an earthmoving contractor’s depot at Muckleford amid concerns about road safety impacts on the Castlemaine-Maldon Road, scene of several fatalities.
The application before council sought to develop and use a depot at 315 Butchers Road, Muckleford – situated off the Castlemaine-Maldon Road.
The proposal had drawn 25 objections with concerns raised by neighbouring property owners including potential impacts on surrounding land and agricultural practices, fire risk and traffic impacts with the proposed site located within the farming zone and affected by the council’s a Significant Landscape Overlay.
At Tuesday evening’s council meeting councillors were tasked with voting in response to an officer recommendation to grant planning approval subject to conditions which included restricting hours of operation, offsetting proposed removal of native vegetation and upgrading the Butchers Road between the Castlemaine-Maldon Road.
Conditions for approval included widening the intersection of Butchers Road with the Castlemaine-Maldon Road, and upgrading the intersection to enable two-way movement of articulated vehicles onto Butchers Road.
However the conditions were not sufficient to allay concerns of the majority of councillors, including Cr Matthew Driscoll who moved an alternate motion to refuse the application, particularly citing concerns about impacts on road safety. Read more in today’s Mail…

Eve Lamb
Journalist and photographer Eve Lamb has a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) degree from Deakin University and a Master of Arts (Professional Writing) from Deakin University. She has worked for many regional newspapers including the Hamilton Spectator and the Warrnambool Standard, and has also worked for metro daily, The Hobart Mercury, and The Sunday Tasmanian. Eve has also contributed to various magazines including Australian Cyclist.