No peace in God’s house

By Melissa Meehan
THE ONGOING battle between Little Road Chapel owners and the Cardinia Shire Council is set to continue.
After years of fighting for loosened restrictions on their property, Little Road Chapel owners Matthew and Allision Eno have again submitted an application to have all restrictions on the function centre completely removed.
Currently the chapel, a 102-year-old former Presbyterian Church located in Iona, is restricted to 30 days of functions a year.
But the couple say they need to be able to function all year round to survive.
“At the moment we are limited to 30 days, which doesn’t really allow us to make a full-time living out of the business,” Mr Eno said.
“Having all weekends throughout the year would certainly help out there.”
Mr Eno said the couple had also applied to have other functions at the chapel – not just weddings.
“It would be nice to do whatever we want, you know a 50th birthday or a Rotary committee kind of thing,” he said.
“But the current restrictions won’t allow it.”
He said the fight with council was long and tiresome, but some minor wins along the way had made it all worthwhile.
“We’re just arguing about the technicalities,” he said.
“It’s obvious we’re not affecting anyone, there is no impact on amenity.
“I wish they would just leave us alone so we could get on with our business.”
Cardinia Shire spokesman Paul Dunlop said the council’s position was that the removal of the restrictions on the use of the chapel was prohibited under the Cardinia Planning Scheme.
“This position is supported by the advice from council’s lawyers and the previous decision of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal when the current permit for the use of the chapel was granted,” he said.