Council approves controversial feedlot

THE feedlot, 20km from the CBD, was approved with 40 conditions.

CONDITIONAL APPROVAL: Applicants will be monitored to ensure noise and odour is mitigated.

A DEBATED feedlot, 20km from the Goondiwindi CBD, has been conditionally approved by Goondiwindi Regional Council.

The Scudamores Rd feedlot, which could house 999 standard cattle units (SCU), was passed by the council yesterday morning.

According to a council statement, there were 40 conditions associated with the approval, including requirements to mitigate dust, noise and odour, site access and overall management of the development.

"As the approval could be conditioned in accordance with the planning scheme, council found no grounds to refuse the application," the statement read.

"Council's role in the approval of development applications is to ensure that conditions are fair and reasonable for all - and consistent with the planning scheme. It also ensures that, as much as possible, the concerns of neighbours and the local environment are addressed."

Neighbours of the development site had previously voiced fears over the impact on their farmlet properties.

Neighbour Suzanne Andersen said the application's proposal to use four underground bores was "concerning".

"We're still drought declared … our bore levels have not been replenished," she told the Warwick Daily News in June.

"Neighbours have already had their pumps dry out so it's an extra strain on limited levels."

Council said potential nuisances would be subject to ongoing monitoring by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Environmental Authority.

"Impact assessments are the highest level of assessment available, and allow council to take into consideration the entire planning scheme, including the zoning of the land and its proposed impacts on neighbours and other interested parties," it read.

The decision may be appealed to the Planning and Environment Court by the applicant and each eligible submitter.

 

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