A PROPOSED RV-friendly caravan park on the outskirts of Mildura has been stopped in its tracks because it’s on “valuable agriculture land” that is slated for industrial use.
Landowner Dom Ietto’s plan to build 10 self-contained cabins and 13 powered sites for caravans and RVs on Benetook Avenue, between Sixteenth and Seventeenth streets, has been rejected by Mildura Council’s planners.
Councillors will have their say on the proposal at a meeting on June 23. However, the council’s planning team will recommend refusal of the project because it’s an “inappropriate development” on Mr Ietto’s “valuable” 10-acre farming land, which has been vacant for “many, many years”.
“I haven’t had any agriculture production on this land for that long – and I’m trying to offer a service for Mildura,” said Mr Ietto, who has owned the land since 1993.
“There’s a local accommodation shortage, especially for farm workers, and there’s an RV component to the plan that can boost tourism in the region.
“It’s just crazy that I’m not allowed to develop the land for purposes that would benefit the community.”
He said he was advised by a council officer in 2018 that, due to planning law changes, he could potentially build a caravan park on the land.
“If I hadn’t have gone to council to ask whether I could do this, I wouldn’t have had these plans drawn up,” Mr Ietto said.
A council spokesman said on Friday its planning staff “do not pre-determine planning applications”.
“All planning applications go through a thorough assessment process before final recommendations are considered,” the spokesman said.
The leaked council planning report states that Mr Ietto’s plan “fails to be supported by numerous state and local agriculture policies, nor the farming zone’s purpose”.
“It is clear that a caravan park, being a sensitive use, should not be located within close proximity to an operating horticultural vineyard,” it said.
“It is considered having a sensitive land use located in an area that will eventually be industrial-zoned is an unwelcome and illogical outcome.”
Mr Ietta’s planning consultant, Roy Costa, said the council’s ruling on the proposal “has inconsistencies in it”.
“On one hand the council is saying this is valuable agriculture land, but on the other, it’s saying it’ll be rezoned industrial in the future,” Mr Costa said. “So is it valuable agriculture land or not?
“This caravan park would be in a prime location and provide easy access for visitors with big vans on one of the main routes coming into town.
“Council could approve a 20-year permit for this site’s use as a caravan park, before it’s looked at down the track during a rezoning review.”
Mr Costa also argues that farm workers would stay at the caravan park.
“This ticks the agriculture-use box. Many people who come here to work in agriculture industry stay in caravan parks,” he said.
“You only have to look at Red Cliffs, Nangiloc and Robinvale to see how often this happens.”
There were no objections from VicRoads and the Environmental Protection Authority to the plan on a site that was approved in 2006 for use as a drive-in theatre.
That permit lapsed after Mr Ietto decided it wasn’t a viable proposition because “I was only allowed to operate it for 10 days a year”.
There were, however, two objections from community members about his latest plan over the proximity of cabins to vineyards and the impacts of spraying, as well as noise and safety.
Former mayors a little warmer
Dom Ietto’s proposed caravan park on Benetook Avenue is precisely what the long-serving councillor has been calling for.
Sunraysia Daily asked Cr Eckel this week whether he’d support the proposal when it goes to a council meeting later this month.
While he declined to declare which way he would vote, he did talk up the benefits of having another caravan park in the local area.
“Mildura has seen in the vicinity of six caravan parks close in recent years,” Cr Eckel, a former mayor, said.
“The price of prime sites around central shopping precincts will continue to drive opportunities for almost all tourism-related businesses out of the town centre.
“The camping industry is the fastest-growing domestic tourism sector in Australia.”
Cr Glenn Milne, another former mayor, said a caravan park was “not prohibited in the (farming) zone”.
“There are a set of rules around agricultural land but there is some leeway and we need to look at the forward planning for the area,” he said.
“I believe (Mr Ietto’s) proposal has a lot of merit. There is a clear need for another caravan park in the region and councillors will need to work out whether it’s in the best interests of the community.”
