Page 8 The Moorabool News – 11 January, 2022
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Lights signify season’s greetings By Helen Tatchell The Griswold’s are well known for their Christmas light displays in a 1989 movie however, one local business owner has taken out the Moorabool title, two years in a row. Rebecca Treadwell is the owner and operator of Springfields Garage in Ballan and was excited about being announced the back-to-back winner this year.
Best Shop Window - Springfields Garage, Inglis Street, Ballan.
“Springfields and Christmas has become a bit of a tradition for us in Ballan,” she said. “The community look forward to our lights every year and it is special to be able to light up the street at Christmas, that brings much joy to children and families.” Council said it was “another stellar effort by Rebecca and her team”. The competition was open to all businesses in Moorabool and was for the Best Christmas Shop Window and Best New Entrant. Run by Council’s Economic Development team, they thanked everyone who entered. “And those that didn’t enter, we thank them for just decorating shopfronts that make Christmas in Moorabool colourful, vibrant, and wonderful as it can be,” a spokesperson said. “Local businesses helped spread Christmas cheer and also helped to make our town centres an inviting place to spend time and spend local.” Best Shop Window - Springfields Garage, Inglis Street, Ballan. Best New Entrant - Devenny Payne, Main Street Bacchus Marsh. Both winners will be in receipt of a $150 dining voucher each.
Best New Entrant - Devenny Payne, Main Street Bacchus Marsh.
Breeding facility not ‘paws-ible’ By Lachlan Ellis Council has voted against a second application for a dog breeding facility in Greendale, with multiple objectors complaining of incessant noise from the existing dogs. The applicant, Warrick Boyle, appeared via livestream at the 15 December Development Assessment Committee (DAC) meeting, supported by Lori Giles from XYG Consulting. Four objectors also appeared online to discourage the approval of eight dogs on the property, and a written submission was also read out which asked for the facility to be rejected. Mr Boyle argued the improvements he had planned in his second application would mitigate noise and ensure the dogs were not a nuisance to his neighbours. “We live on approximately 19 acres of Rural Living Zone land and have been there since 2010. My wife and I both love animals dearly, especially our six Tibetan mastiff dogs, who are like our children,” he said. “Within the contents of the reapplication, we recommend up to $50,000 worth of upgrades to meet Council planning requirements as well as objecting party concerns. “This includes over 100 metres of solid Colorbond fencing to act as a visual, security and noise barrier, over 100 metres of chain fencing, significant new native planting screening, noise buffering and proposed whelping kennels, ultrasonic devices to control excessive barking, and CCTV systems to monitor.” Mr Boyle said he believes he has “spared no expense for upgrades”, and was surprised his application was recommended for rejection by Council planning, which he said would “result in a visit to VCAT”. The four objectors who addressed Council – Steve Norman, Carol Guthrie, Marty Blake and Garry Matheson – all shared concerns that the existing dogs
on the applicant’s property were easily set off, and barked continuously at irregular hours. “Since they’ve had dogs, we’ve had to endure incessant barking at all hours of the night. We’re in the valley below them and the noise comes streaming down to our property. It doesn’t matter where we are on our property...the barking can be at all hours,” Ms Guthrie said. Cr Tatchell moved the recommendation to reject Mr Boyle’s application, and Cr Dudzik dissented, prompting a debate before the final vote. “When these applications come into Council, those of us that love animals are touched by the circumstance it creates for the owner of the animals. But the reality is, we created a policy to make sure we’d give the very best guidelines, so the Planning Department can make the very best recommendations,” Cr Tatchell said. “We all know that when you put two dogs together, they multiply…at any one time you could have 45 or 50 dogs, all barking at the same time. We put these policies in place, sometimes decisions are tough, but they need to be made. Given we made the regulations, I think Planning have made the right decision [to reject the application].” Cr Dudzik said she had visited the proposed site and was “surprised by how large and well set up it was”. “I was there today, it was very peaceful. The dogs barked but it wasn’t very loud, I’d say my two tiny little dogs would bark louder than those dogs,” she said. “We have to get our dogs from somewhere, where will we get them if you’re not allowed to breed them anywhere?” Crs Berry, Tatchell, Munari and Sullivan voted in favour of the recommendation to reject the application, while Crs Dudzik and Ward voted against.
A Tibetan mastiff dog at the Greendale property. Photo – Warrick Boyle Facebook