SWAN Hill Rural City Council says planning rules for on-farm worker accommodation are still unclear, despite a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) declaration received last week.
Responding to stories in The Guardian and Sunraysia Daily, council’s development and planning director Heather Green said council realised the desperate need for housing in Robinvale and had voluntarily sought VCAT input to help it make “good” decisions now, and into the future.
She said council had used the original application for a 32-bed development in Tol Tol as an example case in the VCAT process.
Council has not denied this application, as reported.
“The planning scheme as it stands is unclear — on-farm worker accommodation does not fit into any planning category, in fact accommodation is generally not allowed in the farming zone, and there are no assessment criteria in the planning scheme for us to assess applications,” she said.
“In discussion with the developer of the 32-bed facility, we agreed to voluntarily seek clarity from VCAT.”
The VCAT declaration came through last Thursday.
“It’s important to realise the proposal the developer presented to VCAT was substantially different to the proposal that was submitted to council,” Ms Green said.
“VCAT declared that the updated development was considered an ancillary use. In other words, the development is something that supports the farm rather than being a primary activity of the farm, and as such it does not require a planning permit.
“But the VCAT declaration did not provide clarity for us to make decisions on future applications, and so councillors will now be discussing the best way forward from here.”
The VCAT declaration ruled that on-farm accommodation would be declared ancillary if the developer could formally prove:
& Only persons working upon the horticultural use upon the site can stay within the workers accommodation.
& No rent is charged to the persons staying within the workers accommodation.
& No persons who do not work upon the horticultural use upon the land are permitted to stay within the workers accommodation.
& The workers’ accommodation cannot be used for a commercial business in any form, for example, providing workers to operate upon other properties.
& The workers’ accommodation can only be used during the harvest period.
Ms Green said council had three on-farm accommodation applications to consider, and expected others to come in.
“We want to make it clear to growers that they should not rush out and build accommodation on-farm following this declaration,” Ms Green said.
“They might be in contravention of the Planning and Environment Act, and so we encourage them to contact us to discuss their proposal with a planner.”
Ms Green said council hoped that seeking clarity from VCAT would give growers and council certainty into the future.
“We want to see housing solutions for Robinvale — that is clear from the housing summit we hosted, the housing strategy we just had completed, and this week’s decision by councillors to advertise our intention to sub-divide and develop council-owned land on Ronald Street,” she said.
“But it is our job to make sure that accommodation is appropriately serviced and is built to a standard that Australians deserve. Council and the community as a whole do not want to see developments that result in poor living conditions or bad social outcomes for workers.”
