Kyneton residents opposing a proposed nine-lot subdivision adjoining Bald Hill Reserve are raising funds for legal representation ahead of a VCAT hearing.
A small group of community objectors launched a fundraising campaign after Macedon Ranges Shire Council rejected the development in December last year.
The Melbourne-based developer has appealed the decision, with the matter due to return to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on November 17.
Local resident Charlotte Blair said the objectors had spent hundreds of hours reviewing planning and environmental reports, gathering evidence and attending hearings.
However, she said the group had reached a point where professional legal representation was needed.
“We are ordinary residents trying to understand planning law, overlays, expert reports, environmental evidence and legal arguments while also making sure the concerns of our community are properly heard,” Ms Blair said.
The proposed subdivision is on land between Pipers Creek Road and Mt St Marys Lane, adjoining the 96-hectare Bald Hill Reserve.
Residents have raised concerns about the impact of nine houses and associated infrastructure on vegetation, wildlife habitat and a habitat corridor connecting to the reserve.
They have also cited traffic, the narrow Mt St Marys Lane, bushfire risk, wastewater management and the potential impact on the rural character of the area.
Bald Hill Reserve is recognised as an environmentally significant area and provides habitat for native wildlife, including the endangered brown toadlet.
Council rejected the application despite planning officers recommending approval subject to 63 conditions.
Councillors cited concerns about the subdivision’s design and layout, protection of remnant vegetation and a waterway crossing the site, fragmentation of habitat connected to Bald Hill Reserve, habitat loss and the site’s limited services.
Cr Jennifer Anderson said at the time that a better outcome could be achieved for the property.
“It is a Rural Living Zone and it is accepted that it may have a degree of development, but … we can get a better outcome for this site,” she said.
Residents say they are not opposed to development but want a lower-density proposal that better responds to the property’s environmental constraints.
They also want access to the proposed homes via Pipers Creek Road rather than Mt St Marys Lane.
“We’re not against development of this land,” resident Lisa Biggins said.
“We just don’t want it to be overdeveloped and we want it to fit in with the environment.”
The group said the developer had legal representation and professional expert witnesses, while council had also appointed a lawyer for the VCAT proceeding.
The residents have approached a Victorian planning barrister to help prepare their case and, if sufficient funds are raised, represent them at the hearing.
Two local residents have committed to covering half the legal costs, with the group seeking community support to fund the remainder.
Money raised through a GoFundMe campaign will be used towards legal costs associated with preparing for and representing the objectors at VCAT.
The residents say the campaign is about ensuring community concerns receive proper consideration rather than preventing development altogether.
“The decisions we make today shape the roads we travel, the landscapes we look across, the habitat our wildlife relies upon and the character of the place future generations will inherit,” the campaign states.
The fundraising campaign is available at www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-protect-bald-hill-and-the-rural-character-of-kyneton.