Edwina Beveridge of Blantyre Farms with a sow and piglets.

A proposal to develop a new piggery at Harden which has been under assessment for several months has been further delayed with more information required from the applicant to allow the application to be assessed.

According to Council’s General Manager, the delay has occurred as result of a request from the applicant to be given further time to provide information requested by Council, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH). The development application for the Piggery was submitted to Harden Shire Council on December 18 2015. General Manager McMahon said “We had hoped to have all the necessary information provided to make a determination, however the applicant has requested further time to be able to provide information previously requested.” Although the final decision on the development rests with Council, General Terms of Agreement are required from both the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) if Council is to approve the application. Both organisations are unable to do this at this stage due to the need for more information. He said “From Council’s perspective it is important that all relevant considerations pertinent to the proposed development are addressed so they can be thoroughly assessed.”

According to Hilltops Council, with the recent delay, a final date for the development to be presented to Council is not yet known. “Until the information requested is considered by the EPA and OEH it is difficult to determine when a report will be provided to Council for consideration,” said Mr McMahon.

The development has now been on the table for over 9 months. Residents of the twin towns and the neighbours to the property would all like to know one way or another if the proposal is to go ahead or not. Administrator Wendy Tuckerman made a resolution at the June 22 Hilltops meeting for an Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel (IHAP) to provide a report to Hilltops Council. 3 months later that report is still not before Council.

Questions must now be asked that if the EPA and the OEH don’t have enough information to provide agreement on terms, how can the (IHAP) provide a report when both government authorities are unable to come to decisions with the current information?