Outlook is bleak

By Kath Gannaway
OWNERS of a Tarrawarra vineyard and tourist accommodation business will appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) against a decision by the Shire of Yarra Ranges to refuse an amendment to a 2002 planning permit.
Peter and Lydia Snow, owners of Outlook Hill Winery in School Lane, sought an amendment at last week’s council meeting to allow them to continue to operate a 75-seat restaurant on the property and put in 20 additional car parking spaces.
The shire maintains the cellar door building, which houses the restaurant, was built and is being used in “a substantially different form to the approved plans under the planning permit.”
A number of objections to the amendment were received relating to noise and dust.
School Lane resident Jackie Feagan said the planning process had been done in reverse and that the amenity of the area was at risk.
“School Lane was once a quiet, country lane, but now it resembles something like a main highway,” she said. She said noise from the restaurant had had a big impact on local residents.
Cr Jeanette McRae supported claims by objectors that the Snows were seeking to legitimise what they already had by making a retrospective planning application.
“What they have done is enclosed a verandah as an extension of the cafe and turned it into a full-scale restaurant without a permit,” Cr McRae said.
“The council has made an unbiased assessment of the planning scheme and, given the zoning of that area and the adjoining rural uses, seen it as an overdevelopment of the site.”
The permit was also refused on the grounds the restaurant does not represent an appropriate associated use with the winery or vineyard as required under the Green Wedge Zone provisions.
Mr Snow told the Mail he and his wife believe their business is consistent with the shire’s planning policy and said all the grounds for refusal set out by the council, along with residents’ concerns, would be the subject of the VCAT appeal.