Community planning services in Glenelg Shire Council : 1998-2005 ...

52 Did the council comply with key legislative, planning scheme and other requirements?
CASE STUDY 6: FAILURE TO CONSIDER ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF PROPOSED
DEVELOPMENT
In early March 2003, the council received a planning permit application for the
construction and use of a dwelling on a property located on the edge of Portland
Bay.
As a reticulated sewerage service was not available to the property, the council
sought advice from the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) (14 March 2003)
on whether a domestic wastewater system could be used to treat and dispose of
sewerage on site.
On 1 April 2003, a planning permit was issued. The permit included a condition
that all wastes will be treated and disposed on the site in accordance with
appropriate Australian standards.
The EPA responded to the council’s request on 31 March 2003 (received 2 April
2003) indicating that it had a number of concerns with the on-site treatment of
wastewater which included:
under the proposal, the effluent envelope would be located within 35 metres of
Portland Bay, whereas the EPA’s Code of Practice for Septic Tanks requires a
minimum 60 metre buffer between any effluent and any surface water
given the size of the block (less than 0.4 ha) and the nature of the sandy soil, it
would be very difficult to treat and reuse the wastewater by irrigating on-site
as required by EPA’s Reclaimed Water Guidelines.
On 8 April 2003, an application was received to install a septic tank on the
property. This application was initially rejected by the council on 8 July 2003, but
was later reconsidered following the provision of a land capability assessment
(August 2003) and other information from the applicant. The proposal was again
referred to the EPA.
The EPA responded on 31 October 2003, indicating, that following its review of
the land capability assessment, it considered that the only sustainable wastewater
management strategy for properties located along Portland Bay foreshore was for
the properties to be part of a reticulated sewerage scheme.
The council again rejected the application on 20 November 2003.
The applicant appealed against the council’s decision at the Building Appeals
Board on 4 March 2004. The board dismissed the appeal.
The council then sought advice on the application from Portland Coast Water
(response received 12 November 2003), Western Coastal Board (21 September
2004) and the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) (16
September 2004). All of these organisations expressed concern with the proposal.