Cyan von Gija and Martin Page moved from Sydney to Wodonga five years ago to establish the 13-hectare Bunyip Hollow organic farming enterprise.

But plans to build a house on the land was initially bowled over by Wodonga Council and again at a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing this month.

“They are favouring industry over agriculture,” Mr von Gija said.

“You need industry and business and I’ve got nothing against them, but it is obvious the favouritism being shown by council.

“They should be balancing the needs of residential, they should be balancing the needs of industry, they should be balancing the needs of agriculture.

“This council has shown consistently that it panders to the big-end of town.”

Parties to the VCAT hearing were neighbouring property owners, Wodonga Abattoir and Rendering, and Baxters Concrete, located west of the farmland owned by Mr von Gija and Mr Page.

As part of the order handed down by VCAT member Christopher Harty came the revelation the meat works were interested in purchasing the former North-East Water wastewater treatment facility which adjoins both the meat works and farmland land owned by  Mr von Gija and Mr Page and the railway station.

Wodonga Abattoir and Rendering spokesman Matthew McPhee confirmed the company’s interest in the former wastewater treatment plant, but North-East Water had no short-term plans to divest the property which last operated in 2003.

“We were invited to put our side forward at VCAT which we did,” Mr McPhee said.

“We would have respected the decision either way.”

Mr McPhee said discussion about purchasing and recommissioning the former wastewater treatment plant facility were premature.

“I don’t want to jump the gun on that,” he said.

“But we’ve expressed our interest if they were interesting in getting rid of some of their old assets.

“It is public property and is subject to a very long process and none of that has happened yet.”

North-East Water corporate services director Anthony Hernan confirmed there were no plans to sell the former wastewater treatment site at present.

“North-East Water regularly assesses our landholdings across the region to identify opportunities for strategic purchases and divestments,” he said.

“Any land sales we make are subject to environmental assessment and are made in accordance with the regulations of the Victorian Government Land Monitor.

““It was taken out of service following the corporation’s decision to expand its wastewater treatment plant in West Wodonga.

“This was done to meet the city’s projected population growth, its urban expansion, and the introduction of more stringent effluent treatment and environmental performance standards at that time.”

Mr von Gija said the smell from a recommissioned wastewater treatment plant would hardly be a welcoming first impression of Wodonga to visitors arriving by train.

“You don’t really want to be smelling sewerage when you land on the train station or walking the dog or going for a ride on your bike on the stock route,” he said.

Wodonga Council confirmed the original planning application for the house put forward by Mr von Gija and Mr Page was handled under delegation to planning staff members and not presented to councillors.

“The application to build a dwelling on land on the Wodonga stock route was refused as it did not meet the requirements of the Wodonga planning scheme, being in conflict with the nearby industrial areas and did not provide for the protection and retention of agricultural land,” a council spokesperson said.

“The council has not received any notification or permit in regards to plans by Wodonga Rendering and the North-East Water ponds.

“Until such time as those plans are received by the council, it is unable to comment any further.”

Mr von Gija said it had always been the wish of himself and Mr Page to build a house on the farm despite the close proximity to the freeway and railway station.

“It is not 100 per cent crucial we are there,” he said.

“But you could say that with every farm.

“We get a least a couple of calls a week from people saying ‘can we come and visit your farm, we want to buy from you’.

“We can survive without it as every farmer can, but like every other farmer it makes life a lot easier.”

Also raised as an issue at the hearing, but not the determining factor was the 1000m required distance between their proposed home and the meatworks and the concrete plant.

The council said a home introduced a “sensitive land use” in close proximity to both businesses with the potential for complaints about reduced amenity which could lead to restrictions on their respective operations and future expansion possibilities.

“If that is going to be applied consistently it will be interesting from here on,” Mr von Gija said.

“You won’t be able to renovate, you won’t be able to build and there are literally hundreds of houses in and around that area.

“A precedent has been set here.”

But VCAT member Mr Harty said: “The concerns of the council and respondents regarding potential impacts on the continued operation of these industrial activities are sufficiently justified.”

Council planners also raised concern regarding potential for isolation of the site in the event of major flooding of the Stock Route which runs through the middle of the farming, North-Easter Water and Wodonga Abattoir and Rendering land.

In his summary, Mr Harty said: “The proposal for a dwelling on the site is prone to doubt regarding its reasonable benefit for agricultural production given that the site has been used for such production without a dwelling for a number of years.

“If the applicant wishes to transition into agro-tourism it maybe more appropriate to follow that approach and seek permission to erect a shed or outbuilding.”