General News
24 January, 2025
Broiling Over — Concerns raised over application handling
Proposed broiler farms receive significant opposition, as residents lodge objections.
The community continue to voice their objections and concerns surrounding three broiler farm applications, thus far receiving 91 submissions, while council are yet to make a decision since public notice began in May last year.
If approved, the two applications from Pavilion Farms and one from ProTen will join five operating broiler farms in the Central Goldfields Shire.
Community concern particularly centres on Pavilion Farms, whose Pyrenees Highway application received 47 submissions and Baringhup Road application received 33 submissions, compared to ProTen’s 11 submissions.
A submission summary of the applications shows concerns including amenity, risk to wetlands, heavy vehicles impact on local roads and danger to kids waiting for school buses, health impacts, compliance concerns with existing broiler farms, impact on the proposed Castlemaine-Maryborough Rail Trail, and concerns of how public notice was given.
The two Pavilion Farms applications commenced public notice in May 2024 with further notice given in June that year after public criticism.
Shane Baker, owner of stud sheep business Booloola White Suffolks along with his family, own/lease land neighbouring Pavilion’s current broiler farms and are a few kilometres from the proposed development.
Mr Baker was one of 33 residents who made submissions on the Baringhup Road application and has been left uncertain of what the future holds since May.
“It’s not only the fact that we’ve already started to suffer the consequences of what’s happening with the buildings that have already been approved and been built. But it’s the ongoing uncertainty of what else is to come,” he told The Maryborough District Advertiser.
In his submission made to council Mr Baker flagged concerns surrounding Pavilion Farms further expansion locally, implying it’s “[two] more puzzle pieces to a large scale Industrial Broiler Factory production”.
A screenshot of a map shared by Pavilion Farms owner Michael Vukadinovic on Facebook, and shown to The Advertiser supports this concern, alluding to further broiler farms that are intended for the area but haven’t yet had applications made.
Mr Baker claims that the Central Goldfields Shire Council are aware of these additional broiler farms.
“When my wife originally went in to receive more information from council about further proposals by Pavilion Farms, they’ve given [my wife] a map showing a number of other different sites where Pavilion Farms were intending to build. Council have said to her ‘don’t worry about those they’re not involved’,” he said.
“But clearly council knows a lot more information if they’ve already got flagged sites for other farms Pavilion plan on putting in. I think there’s a lack of transparency also from council on the way they’re going about things with the local community.”
Council told The Addy that the only map they were aware of was a locality plan in one of the applications which showed Pavilion’s three existing broiler farms and two proposed.
However, Mr Vukadinovic confirmed with The Advertiser council’s knowledge of his plan to further expand with broiler farms and a biogas plant.
“We intend to build more farms [and a biogas plant] there because it’s the perfect location,” he said.
The Baker family have been in the breeding business of both stud’s and commercial sheep since 1926, working the land in the area for 100 years.
In his submission Mr Baker flagged his concern for his business due to increased traffic and biosecurity risk.
“The stress on my stud sheep and increased risk of injury or fatality will impact largely on my sales and breeding program. Will clients be prepared to sit through on property sales with the putrid odour from the broiler farm for several hours or even purchase with the biosecurity risk associated with the close broiler cluster? What about the biosecurity reassurance for us,” he said in his submission.
Similarly, another submission is from a 19-year-old woman whose dad is a cropping farmer with properties around the Maryborough area. His “highest-yielding crops” border both the current and proposed Pavilion broiler farms.
“I want nothing more than to one day let my children grow up, as I have on a farm, and this vision could have become my reality at Carisbrook. But I now find myself questioning that desire, due to the newly inherited odour that has suffocated the area surrounding the chook shed,” she said.
“So much has already been compromised in response to the first chicken broiler factories.”
However, Mr Vukadinovic said Pavilion Farms have used experts on odour modelling, and the EPA had done their own checks, and found they were within guidelines. He also said that his current farms’ operations prevent any biosecurity risk.
Council plan on deciding on the outcome of these applications in the first quarter of 2025.