August 6th, 2024Elevated Plains glamping proposal appears no-goer

Plans for a glamping development at Elevated Plains now looks to have been indefinitely shelved.

The glamping development that had been mooted for a site at Charlies Rd, now seems to to have been abandoned following a four year fight in Hepburn Shire Council and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).

VCAT had recently approved a planning permit for the site after protracted hearings but put a raft of conditions on the proposed development which may potentially have significantly reduced the commercial viability of the project.

The Hepburn Shire Council had initially considered a planning application by Hilltop@Hepburn for the development in June, 2020.

The proposal was for tourist accommodation, with safari tents and yurts on a site of around eight hectares.

The land was zoned as a Farming Zone and had bushfire and environmental significance overlays.

Although council officers at the time recommended approval of the project, councillors had knocked back the application on the grounds that it was inappropriate use of land zoned for farming and that there was a high fire risk and poor access along Charlies Rd.

The Council decision was later supported by VCAT.

The developer had resubmitted the application with a new draft bushfire emergency management plan that was approved by the CFA.

However, the council had once again overruled council officers and again refused the application which had then returned to VCAT in June 2022.

VCAT eventually set aside the council decision and approved a planning permit in June 2024. The permit included strict conditions to mitigate fire risk.

A requirement that the site be closed on fire risk days meant that the site would not be able to open for most of the summer period and may have made any bookings subject to cancellation at short notice.

The property is now for sale, listed with JellisCraig with a price range of $1.6-$1.7 million.