Two Malmsbury beekeepers are packing up their hives and leaving town because of a long running dispute with Macedon Ranges council.
Malmsbury Honey business partners Grant Carrington and Michael Richards were knocked back from building a home on their two-hectare farm about 18 months ago because their farm-zoned land wasn’t big enough to warrant a dwelling.
But the pair have had enough after councillors last month approved three permits to build on smaller farm-zoned blocks, some as small as 3.4 hectares, in Kyneton and Malmsbury.
“It’s quite disappointing that a farm nearby our farm has been granted a permit to build a dwelling when we have already been denied the same,” Mr Carrington said.
“We are at a loss about what else to do.”
The pair purchased the Malmsbury farm 17 years ago with hopes of running a home business producing organic, cold-pressed honey. They currently have about 15 hives in operation.
Mr Carrington said their application for a dwelling was knocked back before it was even considered at a council meeting.
He said council officers rejected the application because under council planning regulations farm-zoned land must be a minimum of 40-hectares to justify a dwelling being built.
At the time council officers also cited concerns about future expansion of the argi-business to operate up to 200 hives.
The continued fragmentation of farmland for country lifestyle blocks has been a contentious issue in Macedon Ranges.
At a recent council meeting West ward councillor Jennifer Anderson was a sole voice sounding the alarm about council’s contradictory approach in farming zones.
Mr Carrington and Mr Richards are now preparing to put their property on the market.
