A floating sauna project for Lake Sambell that has stirred Beechworth locals into fierce debate for months might be up and running by spring, its developers hope.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
When the project was tabled at Indigo Shire Council on March 26 for further debate, a council recommendation was to pull the project.
The project's instigators - Beechworth businessman Michael Patterson, who was at the meeting, and his business partner, Bright construction specialist Andrew Cairns who was logged in online - were watching closely.
When the council voted 4-3 in favour of the proposal, the pair decided September or October would be a suitable target to launch the venture.
"At the council meeting, it was an incredible atmosphere, there wasn't a lot of tension, just, each councillor was voicing their opinion," Mr Patterson said.
"If there were concerns about its location, we could have another opportunity of putting it somewhere else. But, it was on the meeting agenda and I was thinking ... you've just got to let it run its course."
Mr Patterson said there were "several hoops to jump through" over the next few months.
The pair engaged Bright planner Nick Vlahandreas who applied for a permit, a Wodonga company to produce computer-generated visual representations of the venture, and they plan to use local contractors for construction of the sauna.
Mr Cairns said he was aware of several conditions the council would impose on the project but said he believed they "wouldn't be too onerous".
"Council still have a 30-day appeal period, and then the next step is for us to negotiate a lease for the site with the managers of the lake which has to be put up for public scrutiny," he said.
"We won't start fabricating the structure until, I'd imagine, probably June. It's going to take that long to get through the other processes.
"We've got all of May for the objections, and then we've got June to negotiate and finalise the lease.
"As for building it, it'll be subcontracted out to local people, it won't be a single builder. The whole thing is going to be modular so can be lifted him with a crane in pieces.
"And if if the venture fails, it can be knocked down and relocated. But if it's as successful as the one down in Tassie (Lake Derby), it'll be well worth having for Beechworth because it's a huge drawcard down there."
Mr Patterson scoffed at some of the previous objections raised - one being that another chimney in the area could contribute to air pollution, another that there were no toilets on the structure.
"The public toilets are 100 metres away, there's no problem there, and one chimney?" he said.
"There's a few conditions, we still need to sit down and work out how to make it fit within its surroundings, colour palettes, that kind of thing, but we still need to sit down with the council and work out that we're all on the same page.
"Our goal - we want to aim for spring, but that's if everything goes smoothly. You just don't know."
