There are some very happy Long Forest residents this week after their winning an 18-month battle to stop a heritage property being used as a function centre for up to 200 guests.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) ruled on June 20 that Boyd Baker House – a Robin Boyd-designed property that includes three heritage-listed buildings on 14.1 hectares of bushland – could not be used as a function centre or for accommodation.
VCAT’s written decision cites the location being “in a bushfire setting of high fire risk” as one reason for refusing the planning application. “The bushland itself has biodiversity values of recognised national significance,” it states.
“The broader setting also contains a number of rural lifestyle properties whose residents hold concerns about amenity. Our decision …emerges from this layered context.”
The postwar house was sold at auction in 2006 to Peter Mitrakas, who did not return calls for comment.
The CFA has said the function centre was an unacceptable fire risk.
The property’s operators were temporarily banned by Moorabool council for not having appropriate planning permits in early 2013 and a planning application to resume operations was refused in December. The application proceeded to VCAT in April.
Long Forest resident Tim Feetham said it was a fair and honest outcome. “VCAT said the residents’ concerns about traffic and the like were surmountable and could have been dealt with through permit conditions,” he said.
“It came down to the environment and CFA requirements. The venue could not have been made safe in the event there was fire.
“We had concerns about our safety as much as for those who were hiring the venue. One- hundred-and-40 people there in a fire situation would have made it very hard to get them out.”
