THE proposed new site for the Ballarat saleyards has not been adequately researched, according to a regular council watcher.
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Grant Tillett has raised serious concerns surrounding the impact the development of the Miners Rest saleyards could have on the future of the region.
Mr Tillett said he feared council officers had not researched the viability of the Sunraysia Highway site and the proposal could stifle growth in the area.
He said the council’s Preliminary Ballarat Strategy did not take the Miners Rest area into account, despite the fact it proposed to build one of the biggest pieces of infrastructure the city had seen in the past decade.
Mr Tillett said the strategy only focused on an eight-kilometre radius of Ballarat and had not adequately investigated the growth predicted for outer regions, including
Miners Rest, Learmonth and Cardigan.
“The council needs to look into a strategy which will examine what Miners Rest will look like in 30 years,” Mr Tillett said.
“I would not be surprised if, under close scrutiny, the Miners Rest site might not be appropriate.
Within 10 years, there will be very little residential land left and it may well be extended in the general direction of where saleyards are meant to be.”
The Central Victorian Livestock Exchange works approval application lodged with the Environment Protection Authority shows the new saleyards would contain roofed and external sheep and cattle yards, a truck wash area, truck parking, 216 car parks, an office, storage dam, treatment ponds, night lighting, CCTV security, a maintenance and hay shed, and speciality loading and unloading ramps.
Earlier this month, Ballarat Stock and Station Agents Association slammed a lack of consultation over the plan’s release and flagged concerns about the capacity at the new complex.
Late last year, former Moorabool mayor Pat Toohey raised concerns at a city council meeting about the size of the proposed Sunraysia Highway site and the potential for it to be expanded.
Information sessions on the proposal will be hosted at the Ballarat Turf Club on Monday, March 2, and Tuesday, March 3, from 4pm to 7pm.
The planning documents will be published on the City of Ballarat website (ballarat.vic.gov.au), the EPA website (epa.vic.gov.au) and the Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure website (dtpli.vic.gov.au/publicinspection).
Submissions can be sent to Planning Strategy, City of Ballarat, PO Box 655, Ballarat, VIC 3350 or by email to strategy@ballarat.vic.gov.au.
The closing date for submissions is Friday, March 20.
Public consultation for the Preliminary Ballarat Strategy is still under way.
For details, visit www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/pbs/city-strategy/ballarat-strategy.aspx.
melissa.cunningham@fairfaxmedia.com.au