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Go-ahead for work on estate
04Aug08
AN application to subdivide Sunbury's historic Emu Bottom homestead has been given the green light.
Hume Council passed the application to split the 25ha site into six lots. Native vegetation will be removed and earthworks carried out.
Lots two to six will be between one and 1.3ha, with Lot 1, which will include the homestead, at 19ha.
The 34-page report outlined 27 loaded conditions that must be followed at the homestead, the oldest in Victoria.
They included environmental and financial plans.
Each lot can only have one single-storey house, and its roof must be painted either a muted green or brown to blend with the surrounds.
Cr Jack Ogilvie said the report was comprehensive.
"In my time on council I've never seen a report with so many conditions," he said.
Cr Ann Potter commended the officers for the report's thoroughness.
Other councillors described the homestead as "a jewel in Sunbury".
The council first displayed plans for the six lots in December.
Sixteen objections were received.
But Sunbury conservationist Trevor Dance said the approval stood as a "nail in the coffin" for the historic homestead.
"Another piece of our history suffers and our responsible authorities show again their lack of concern for our heritage," he said.
Emu Bottom was last subdivided in the early 1980s, and past planning proposals have ruffled feathers.
In 2002 a plan for a winery at Emu Bottom was taken to VCAT by the Sunbury Conservation Society, saying it was a threat to nearby platypus populations.
In 2000, owners Hedley and Jan Elliot were ordered by VCAT to fill in a gully made for a dump without council approval.
