Hay shed OK

By Kath Gannaway
STEELS Creek farmer Carolyn Kelmar is looking forward to making hay when the sun shines next summer.
She has been given the go-ahead by power company SP Ausnet to rebuild her hay shed.
The Mail reported in late January that Ms Kelmar had been unable to cut hay or run cattle on her Steels Creek property since the Black Saturday fires which destroyed her hay shed, $48,000 worth of newly harvested hay and boundary and dividing fences.
Ms Kelmar found herself playing to new rules when she applied for permits to rebuild the hay shed.
Despite having a planning permit from Yarra Ranges Council, Ms Kelmar found she needed approval from SP Ausnet as the hay shed had been located near powerlines which run through her property.
New regulations were brought in March, after the fires, which restricted building within 16 metres of powerlines.
Ms Kelmar said the process had been frustrating and drawn out and that her case worker had ultimately resorted to writing to the Victorian Ombudsman when they did not get a timely response to their request for SP Ausnet on their permit application.
SP Ausnet, however, said it treated all requests from customers in bushfire affected areas as a very high priority and that Ms Kelmar’s request was no different.
A spokesperson for SP Ausnet said the property was inspected in late January and a letter written on 4 February advising that the shed could be built subject to conditions.
While fencing is an ongoing issue, Ms Kelmar said she is pleased to be taking another step forward.
“I have had some internal fencing done which I have paid for, but it is very much a case of doing things in small bites to make sure I don’t run out of money,” she said.
“My cattle yards were attached to the hay shed so now that that is going up I can also get on with rebuilding the yards.
“The hay shed was the fulcrum around which everything else revolved. Without a hay shed, I don’t have a farm.”