Last Wednesday 2 October 2019, Council received a decision from the Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in relation to the proposed sand quarry at 223 Maude-She Oaks Road, She Oaks. The decision affirmed Council's decision to refuse the application, and ordered that no permit be granted. The application proposed Stone Extraction, specifically a Sand Quarry, which had previously gone to the November 2018 Ordinary Meeting of Council, where Councillors refused the application.
At the VCAT hearing, Council was able to demonstrate a number of inconsistencies in the way the original application was presented to Council, including through cross examination of expert evidence. The case was primarily about the presentation of doubt, lack of interaction between disciplines presented and inconsistencies in information. In its decision, the Tribunal linked these inconsistencies to key matters including biodiversity, road safety, hydrology and acoustic considerations. Accordingly, the Tribunal ruled that issuing a permit for the application was not an acceptable planning outcome.
To read more about this decision, click here.