For our guests, Goulburn Council is our problem, not yours. We won’t take a booking if we can’t provide the service!

Feb 2024 Update:

Now Goulburn Mulwaree Council have given us an order to “restore” The Shed to its original condition, remove The Amphitheatre retaining walls and stop hosting campers and functions.
 
They don’t consider the work we did renovating the shed to be exempt (it is – the non-exempt work went in the DA) and say we don’t qualify for the NSW Agritourism ammendments because we are not a farm. We are a farm of course and we proved that during our DA submission again. There is no issue or complaint with the way we renovated or built the amphitheatre – it is all constructed to relevant BCA codes – just that we didn’t ask Council nicely first with a DA that included this work. We’ve already spent another $20,000 in professional fees trying to convince them, to no avail.
 
The Shed can’t be restored and it was in danger of falling down as it was – that’s why we renovated it. “Restore” effectively means demolish. Same with the amphitheatre – remove the retaining walls and stairs and leave it as a dangerous steep hill to the river as it was. Not environmentally sound.
 
We are speaking with Council who have given us no direction or specific requirements we need to meet to satisfy them further. We’ll likely have to put in another development application to specifically cover this work or get taken to court.  Nobody seems to know what is required in this DA so we don’t know what professional reports or costs would be required, how good our chances of approval are. Given our experience with the last DA ($125,000 over 2 years and got zilch out of it) we are reluctant to go down that path.
 
This happens around here a lot apparently, and all over NSW. NSW Govt gives Councils the power with little recourse or accountability.. Wish we had known that before we bought down here and tried to fix up an old, run-down piggery. Silly us.

In the meantime, we are still operating and hoping for a swift, compliant resolution.  If you have a silimar problem or story we’d like to hear about it, so get in touch.

Sep 2023 Update: Development Application REFUSED

Thank you to all those that have contacted us about the refused Development Application by Goulburn Mulwaree Council that have stifled our plans for adding toilets to the shed and renovating The Cottage. The passion from the community has been overwhelming and was not expected. We are small local farmers trying to ensure we have the lifestyle and future income we need so we did not expect such a wide range of interest and support.

We have received much advise such as contacting the major or councillors and our local NSW member Naturally many have suggest taking our case to the Land and Environment Court. Unfortunately, in NSW, only expensive Court determinations matter even for small business and families.

We elected not to challange the development application refusal in court. Too expensive with no guarantee of a different outcome. We are not willing to spend that much money to keep rolling the dice.

The Story

We have written to Major Peter Walker with no reply. He ignored us and did not pass it through to the CEO or planning team. Ratepayers have no love for Mayor Pete so we were not surprised.

Local people should consider this attitude from Mayor Walker in the NSW Local Elections in Sept 2024.

Cnr Bob Kirk did follow up with CEO Aaron Johansson who passed our concerns to the planning team.  Thank you Bob! You get our vote! – but he is jus one councillor so it got us nowhere. We did eventually get a standard “we’ve looked at your matter” reply that doubled down and Council told us to submit a new application next year when they had time. An appeal – which we are guaranteed by the act and costs another $2200 to Council – would be rejected because the planning team had no time to consider the appeal.

The planning woman who replied told the CEO that she had reached out to us by phone to discuss and we had refused. We never heard from her, just the one standard email. The CEO didn’t question this lie, but Bob did. Again a single councillor, no matter how passionate, can’t do anything.

The Development Application wasn’t unusual, complicated, commercial or unweildy. A services building for the shed with extra toilets, a shower and a kitchen, revamping the cottage in its historical style, a new residence (existing house built in 1978), and a heated indoor pool for us and guests (river gets cold and dirty) spread over 4 stages drawn up by professional architects from Goulburn.

The “reasons” given for refusal are all standard arse covering ie, “not a commercial farm”, “not in the public interest”, “don’t believe your expensive reports” bull that looks good to higher ups.

We did ask a number of times for real issues for refusal that we could address to comply properly above and beyond the $250,000 of concessions we have agreed to  in the application.

There are none.

Our Options – Only Court

We are evaluating the costs and process of involving the Court, but, as you might expect, going to Court even if you have a strong case is not a straightforward or cheap matter. It’s a $6300 filing fee with a lawyer costing $330 and hour. That’s at least $10,000 to go to Court.

Even if we win in Court – never a certainty – all we get is permission to build. We still have to live here and Goulburn Mulwaree Council will always be our local Council. We’d face headwinds through every stage and beyond well into our golden years. As they say, “Bad blood never heals!”

Goulburn Council is just outright refusing DAs because they have no time, no care, and are not held to account by the CEO, Mayor, Councillors,  NSW Planning or relevant ministers. This we heard from a lawyer who has multiple cases in front of the Court.

Goulburn Mulwaree Council is now asking for a Special Rate Variation (SRV) to increase our rates by 47% this year. I guess they need to pay for more lawyers to defend their planners in the Land and Environment Court.  Maybe that’s Mayor Peter and CEO Aaron’s priority?

Has anybody had a significant DA approved by Goulburn Council this last six months? We’ve only heard from others who have been refused.

Good news: Local Council elections for NSW in Sep 2024. We can vote some of these councillors out including Mayor Walker!

In The Meantime

Its still an awesome shed and we’ll see what we can legally do with the cottage.

If something turns around and we are permitted to proceed we will advise and eagerly begin the next phase. Until then there is still much to enjoy here and The Shed is fully operational. Recent NSW planning laws allow us to proceed with all the services we offer on this site which is why we decided to give it a go in the first .

For our guests, Goulburn Council is our problem, not yours.

We’ll do everything we can to ensure your event, party or stay is to your expectations.