Panacea Estate granted ability to host 250 person events at Welshmans Reef site
A winery outside Castlemaine will be allowed to host 12 major functions a year, but one Mount Alexander councillor said there was no “help or assistance” readily available in case of a fire.
A popular winery has been given the green light to host weddings and parties despite strong concerns about potential bushfire risks.
Mount Alexander Shire approved a heavily amended planning application submitted by Panacea Estate in Welshmans Reef..
But councillor Tony Cordy said Panacea Estate’s isolated location and emphasis on alcohol were a recipe for disaster.
“When something happens on this site there’ll be no services [or] backup, the fire will be out of control, people won’t know what to do and it is going to be a mess,” he said.
“Let’s face it, it’s a winery – people go there to … get drunk [and] become incapacitated.”
“Access [to the site] is severely compromised in the event of a fire … it’s a long way from help and assistance.”
The winery originally wanted to host up to 750 people 12 times a year for indoor and outdoor events featuring live music between 11am – 11pm.
However, it was forced to slash capacity by 500 after nearly 20 objections were made – most of which came from neighbours and nearby residents.
The proposal did not require Country Fire Authority (CFA) approval because Panacea Estate’s location does not fall under their jurisdiction, a CFA spokeswoman said.
“This site was not deemed to be in the Bushfire Management Overlay, and therefore the planning scheme did not need to adhere to the stricter requirements nor formally be referred to CFA,” she said.
“CFA reviewed the proposal and advised local council that on days forecast to be extreme, or above, the site would need to be closed to meet the objectives of the planning scheme.”
Councillor Lucas Maddock echoed Mr Cordy’s fears about patron safety and bushfire management.
“I really share the concerns around the idea of a big event with many people at a winery involving alcohol and to not have a way to get people out quickly in the event of a fire,” he said.
“Grass fires move quickly and not necessarily on extreme [fire danger risk] days.”
Mr Maddock said he suspected the events would be “crammed” into “seasons of high fire risk.”
But Panacea Estate director Peter Christen, who is currently interstate, refuted this, saying safety would be front of mind.
“Obviously I’m not an expert on this and that’s why we defer to people that are; we take their [CFA] recommendations.”
“The last thing I would want is if we are hosting a wedding and have it fall on an extreme fire risk day and then have to cancel it.”
Mr Christens said bookings would be blocked out for certain times of the year.
“We won’t even take bookings for a wedding in February … because there is an extreme fire risk.”
“We’re not going to be the place … you couldn’t think of anything worse for the couple.”
