Council & Business
19 August, 2025
Application headed to VCAT
A local couple’s two decade dream to build their own home now rests with VCAT after years of expectation ended with Central Goldfields Shire Council’s denial last month.
The applicants of 187 Logan Road, Alma, have been left no choice but to contest the decision with VCAT after their hopes of a home, shed, and dam were denied in last month’s council meeting.
It’s an outcome Daniel Dawson and Vikki Hood, who bought the property in 2023, said they never expected, claiming staff in council’s planning department repeatedly told them the development should be able to go ahead — despite their final recommendation to deny the application.
“We’ve done everything we possibly could right and you get a kick in the guts every time you take a step forward,” Mr Dawson said.
The couple feel they are victims of council’s “incompetence” which, they explained, strung them along for years.
In January of 2023 the couple’s years long search for a piece of land to retire on came to an end when they saw the lot for sale as a “peaceful lifestyle escape”.
The listing described the property as a “beautiful potential future home site” subject to council’s approval due to being zoned as farming.
Mr Dawson said he called council’s planning department before purchasing, explained their plans, and was told there was no reason why they can’t go ahead.
They bought the block for $190,000 not expecting it would cost them tens of thousands more and cause years of back and forth.
Changes in council’s planning department in the almost three years since, Ms Hood explained, led to delays, further document requests, and confusion.
“You can’t rely on the so-called professionals in the council for their knowledge and experience because they just don’t have it,” she said.
She explained if they were informed properly from the beginning the land “never would have been purchased”.
It’s a similar issue Mr Dawson echoed about a site meeting in 2023.
He said a council officer requested various reports and information which would cost the couple $16,000.
“I made a phone call to [the council officer] and said this is the price and [they] said ‘I’d be happy to see it move forward if all this was met’,” he said.
Although Mr Dawson was unable to get this in writing because it was a “joint decision” he spent the money informed by this conversation.
“I got it all done, submitted it, and it’s just going down hill,” he said.
The couple explained after being bounced around six people in the years since, between Maryborough and Melbourne, they eventually received an email that the application would be denied.
It was a tragic end for Ms Hood, who said they had walked out their home imagining what it would be like, fixed up parts of the property, and began growing a garden — the beginning of their dream home.
“You’re up and down, up and down, losing heart the whole time,” she said.
“It’s actually heartbreaking.”
The report tabled at last month’s council meeting put the fate of the site on how it was zoned — despite its similarity to nearby Rural Living Zoned land.
“Until such time as a comprehensive rural land review is undertaken, any application must be assessed against the current zoning — specifically, the Farming Zone — and the relevant planning policies that apply,” the report stated.
“While the applicant’s intentions may be genuine, the test under the Planning Scheme is not about the applicant’s personal aspirations, but whether the land use and development proposed aligns with the broader planning framework and policy expectations for rural land.”
The couple will now wait for a VCAT hearing, although a date is yet to be decided, as they urge other prospective home or land buyers to engage a solicitor throughout the process to avoid a situation similar to their own.
“Ordinary Joe Blows like us, no chance, you just wouldn’t understand,” Ms Hood said.
Council declined to comment due to the matter being before VCAT.