Plan faces the chop

By Jade Lawton and Lia Bichel
CASEY Council officers on Tuesday night recommended the council reject a controversial planning application in Harkaway, which attracted 58 objections and a petition with 90 signatures.
The land owner applied to use the Hilden Drive site’s existing shed as a depot for work trucks used in his drainage construction business even though the shed has been used to store the three trucks for the past two years.
The report notes that three employees associated with the business arrive in the morning and park their private vehicles, load the trucks and depart between 6.45am and 7.30am, returning between 4.30pm and 5pm.
A permit is required to use the land as a “transport depot” because it is in the green wedge zone and is affected by the Significant Landscape Overlay Schedule.
Objectors said the use of heavy vehicles on Hilden Drive, King Road and Baker Road was inappropriate, noisy and unsafe.
Other objectors said the applicant also used the site to store a bobcat and excavators, which were also used for the drainage business.
The petition, signed by 90 people ,seeks to restrict heavy vehicle access to King Road from Harkaway Road to the end of Sewell Drive between 7am and10am and 2pm and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Harkaway resident Ian MacDonald started the petition to try to restore safety on the roads and maintain what he called the serene and pristine Harkaway atmosphere.
“My concern is that there is excessive non-agriculture use on what is basically an unmade road. It has become an increasing problem over many years,” he said.
“This is not suitable from a safety aspect. Two people can’t pass each other, there are blind corners, steep sections and a bridge which is marked one lane only. Sadly I have seen many accidents on the road.”
Harkaway Residents Group’s Darren Batchelor said the group fully supported the petition.
“Our view as a group is that we didn’t want to see an increase in heavy vehicles entering up and down the street,” Mr Batchelor said.
“We thought it would negatively impact on residents and we like things the way they are.”