Help - VCAT - Hepburn Bushfire risks & Glamping

We are a close-knit community of around 50 people in Elevated Plains, Mount Franklin and Dry Diggings, Victoria, a high bushfire-risk area. We are again experiencing a crisis in the form of a proposed development of a “Camping and Caravan Park” (Glamping) in the area. The planned location is at the end of Charlies Road, a dead-end, single-laned, gravel road in Elevated Plains. The majority of the community has opposed this development.

“Glamorous Camping” is not an appropriate proposal in this location for several important reasons. The proposed development is situated in a “bushfire management overlay”. BMO land applies to locations in Victoria that are at risk from bushfires. This property is adjacent on two sides to the Hepburn Regional Park, next to built-up communities. Daylesford, Hepburn Springs, Dry Diggings, Mount Franklin, Shepherds Flat and Porcupine Ridge may be at risk if a bushfire gets into the regional park. Following the Royal Commission into Bushfires in 2009, 52 Victorian towns were identified as priority bushfire risk locations. These were the most vulnerable towns in Victoria. Daylesford and Hepburn are both towns on that list.

The application for this development has been denied three times because of the fire risk:

July 2020 - Refusal of Planning Permit by Hepburn Shire Council

May 2021 - VCAT Affirms Council Decision of Refusal

May 2022 - Refusal of Planning Permit by Council

The proposal is currently scheduled for a second hearing at VCAT in October 2022.

VCAT is supposed to “provide fair, efficient and affordable justice for the Victorian community.” Unfortunately for Planning matters, it is not so affordable. Costs are significant and can run into the tens of thousands and even more.

During the 2020 VCAT hearing for the glamping development, the developer hired multiple lawyers, a planning expert, a fire expert, a water expert, an agricultural expert, and a traffic expert. We learned from this hearing that unless we present expert witnesses, we are fighting a one-sided argument. We need to raise funds to present expert witnesses and for legal representation.

We have already spent a large amount of money at the first VCAT hearing. Now, we need your help.

We are reaching out to the wider community, who may also be affected by the threat of bushfire. If you are able and willing to support a community in need, please donate. Together we can stop this inappropriate development. Please contribute in any way you can afford.

Thank you very much.