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The Moorabool News – 15 March, 2022 Page 3
Abattoir to expand By Lachlan Ellis A Bacchus Marsh abattoir has been approved for an expansion, which it applied for to allow the facility to run at full capacity under social distancing requirements. Westside Meats’ application was heard at Council’s 16 February Development Assessment Committee (DAC), with the application proposing a new 1,300 sqm building to be built directly south of the existing building at 6 Woolpack Road. Conditions on the permit require the buildings to be temporary, to allow for removal and for parts of the building to be relocated to Parwan. Westside Meats is located on Woolpack Road and Main Street and the expansion was not designed with an increase in output or employee numbers in mind. There were three speakers in favour of the application, including Joe Failli, who runs Westside Meats with his brothers Michael and Pietro. Mr Failli objected to Condition 4 of Council’s recommendation, which said Westside Meats must move the proposed building to Parwan within five years, “unless otherwise agreed to by Council”. “As you know, we’ve been trying to get out to Parwan for the last 16 years. We’ve had a long, drawn-out period trying to get up there…if you told me 16 years ago we’d be taking 16 years, I would’ve said you’ve got rocks in your head,” Mr Failli said. “A five-year timeframe on trying to run a business, keep people employed, then also move an operation up there that would cost up to $90 million is a bit hard to take in regard to a timeframe. We’re definitely going up there, on the proviso we get our first stage of the protein plant and industrial park operating, and also start filling it up.” Standing orders were suspended for a discussion of the application, following which Cr Edwards moved to amend the recommendation, with the removal of Condition 4. The amended recommendation was moved by Cr Edwards and seconded by Cr Ward. Cr Tonia Dudzik dissented to the motion, beginning a debate. “From my perspective, we’re allowing this building to be built…the usage is in line with what’s currently being used on-site. I think if it helps create jobs or maintain jobs within our Shire, that’s a good thing,” Cr Edwards said. “I think we shouldn’t confuse the issue of this site being used versus us having a desire to grow the Parwan Precinct. Whilst I fully support the Parwan Precinct and I’d love the Faillis and the meatworks to move up there in the next 12 months, that’s a business decision, I don’t think it’s a planning decision.” Cr Dudzik said the applicant has time to actually construct the building, the five years doesn’t start until it’s constructed. “If he doesn’t believe he can move to Parwan within the five-year period, he has the option of putting in a further application to Council for an extension of time on that. I think that’s the process that should be followed,” she argued. Cr Paul Tatchell said the abattoir moving to Parwan was a complicated situation, given Council’s investment in the relocation. “I’d just like to include that the ratepayers do have an investment in this, and we have invested heavily in this arrangement to move the abattoir out to Parwan, so it’s a little bit more complex than a business decision,” he said. “I think if we were to have no timeframe, that creates a problem for future Councillors. I note that Mr Failli does have the capacity to negotiate if there’s an issue or if things change, as they do…I think we need to be really careful that we don’t have an open-ended arrangement that then we can’t control.” Crs Edwards, Berry, Munari and Ward voted in favour of Cr Edwards’ amended recommendation, and thus it was carried. The Moorabool News contacted Michael Failli for further information on Westside Meats’ future plans in Bacchus Marsh and Parwan, but he did not respond to our requests.
Photo Lachlan Ellis
COUNCILLOR DRAWS A DISTINCTION Speaking to the Moorabool News, Cr Edwards said the plans for Westside Meats to expand to Parwan, and the application for a new building at Woolpack Road, were “separate matters”. “They’re not related, one is for a planning permit to put a cool room on an existing facility, and the other one is a future plan that is not part of that plan. From a planning perspective, they’re completely different things,” he said. “Whilst it might be good intention to say ‘move it in five years’ … it is an application in its own right whether to have a cool room on that sight. Council may want them to move out to Parwan, and that’s their plans … that’s a business decision, that’s not a planning decision. “Their packing facility at the moment is all under one roof…if they get a case of COVID with one of their meat workers, then it shuts down not only the meatworks, but also the packing facility. By having a separate building they can continue to supply meat, by having that separate cooling facility.” The amendment moved by Cr Edwards means not only will the new building not have to be moved within five years, “it will not need to be moved at all.”
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