A new meat processing facility in a residential street is on the cards after the Shire of Collie council narrowly approved the application at its meeting on January 23.
The shire received an application from Jason Corradetti to run a meat processing facility from a home on Chapman Street.
According to the council meeting agenda, Mr Corradetti intended to secure a tender with Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions’ Parks and Wildlife Service in order to supply them with Kangaroo meat for baiting animals such as foxes.
Concerns were raised by neighbours that granting the approval would hurt property prices in the area and that the processing would create a bad odour.
However the shire council voted to approve the application five votes to five, with the condition that the arrangement be reviewed by council in 12 months time.
There was debate among the councillors whether the application met the conditions of section 4.2 of the shire's Local Planning Scheme, which states that developments that aren’t compatible with the predominantly rural nature and residential amenity of the area should be discouraged.
However, the shire’s Director of Development Services Andrew Dover said during the meeting that the council had previously approved the application of a similar facility on Pitt Street in October 2010.
He also said that the shire hadn’t received any complaints from residents about that facility in the seven years since approval was given.
The shire’s approval for the processing facility on Chapman Street came with several conditions to limit the effect of the business on the neighbouring properties.
The facility will only be able to process kangaroo meat and will be limited to processing 100 kangaroo carcasses each week.
Any work at the facility will be limited to the time between 7am and 7pm on Mondays to Saturdays, which Mr Dover said was based on local noise restrictions.
Mr Corradetti will have to reside at the property and will also be responsible for providing effective means to ensure that the area is free of rodents, cockroaches and flies.
Mr Dover said that any breach of the conditions would see the approval taken away, with the shire relying on public complaints to monitor the situation.
