Elsie Lange
McDonalds, a second fast food venue and a 24-hour service station will join a Bunnings on the outskirts of Kyneton, following another greenlight by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
At the end of last month, VCAT approved the second proposal for land at the intersection of Edgecombe Road and Pipers Creek Road, with minor changes to the original plan.
In September last year, Macedon Ranges council blocked two separate proposals for the land and received hundreds of objections from the community.
Macedon Ranges Residents Association secretary Christine Pruneau said the organisation shared council’s disappointment the tribunal didn’t “give the priority that’s needed to landscape”.
“Now we’ll have to live with this – it’s a lesson in how well the protection here works – not,” Ms Pruneau said.
“When you’re supposedly protected and there’s a priority for protection of landscape values, you would expect that to prevail over just simply approving something for other reasons.”
In its ruling, VCAT said it was satisfied the proposal would not interrupt views or vistas, given the land’s “topography, the proposed landscaping and the scale of the built form”.
“The proposal will not detract from the rural character of the shire,” the ruling said.
VCAT also said residents would not be detrimentally impacted by traffic, including deliveries, noise, lighting or the 24-hour operation of the proposal.
The tribunal said the proposal would not result in “unacceptable offsite impacts”, is “sufficiently separated” from the drainage area and riparian areas of Post Office Creek and operational safeguards in the conditions would avoid impacts to the environment and community health.
Last month, council’s planning and environment director Rebecca Stockfeld told Star Weekly it was “disappointing” the Bunnings had been approved with little change to the design.
“The proposal had detrimental amenity impacts, a poor design and interface with its surrounds, inadequate landscaping, removal of native vegetation, and poor layout for pedestrians within the car-parking and access areas,” Ms Stockfeld said.
