Council & Business
3 March, 2026
Councillors expect appeal on broiler farm refusal, an argument the shire has lost before
Central Goldfields Shire Council unanimously opposed another broiler farm on the Moolort Plains despite failure to defend similar decisions in the past.
Central Goldfields Shire Council unanimously opposed another broiler farm on the Moolort Plains despite recently losing a similar case on appeal.
Councillors have continued to oppose a growing number of industrial-sized chicken farms near Carisbrook at last week’s council meeting.
The planning application sought a broiler farm accommodating up to 400,000 birds, alongside a caretakers house and associated buildings, at 3280 Pyrenees Highway, Carisbrook.
If approved, it would have been the fifth broiler farm run by Pavilion Farms in the area and sixth broiler farm in the region.
Councillors Gerard Murphy and Anna de Villiers respectively moved and seconded the recommendation to approve the proposal with 66 conditions.
While they would ultimately vote against, their initial reasoning included the application’s likelihood of being approved on appeal.
“This is a really difficult one … we can say no but government will say yes,” Cr de Villiers said.
Central Goldfields Shire Council recently opposed a similar application for 705 Baringhup Rd at VCAT, from the same company, and lost.
Among the reasons why were the arguments the tribunal could consider under the relevant planning law or the Victorian Code for Broiler Farms.
While Cr de Villiers said local policies to deter broiler farms would help, and were being worked on, they were not yet complete.
“The reason why VCAT manages to pass this is because we do not have the policies and planning in place to deter the development of broiler farms on the Moolort Plain,” she said.
The planning application received 56 objections and two neutral submissions from the community.
Among their concerns, which included odour and noise, was the broiler farms proximity to the disused rail corridor.
Castlemaine-Maryborough Rail Trail Inc (CMRT) hope to turn the section between Maryborough and Castlemaine into a tourist attraction for cyclists and pedestrians.
However, the proposed broiler farm is adjacent to the trail with a 30 x 15 metre “mortality composting pad” within 100 metres of the corridor.
Pavilion Farms owner Michael Vukadinovic previously told The Maryborough District Advertiser he didn’t want to “stand in the way” of a community project.
“If they’re not going ahead, I’ll build the farm, if they are going ahead I’ll move the farm,” he said.
Councillor Grace La Vella said she was surprised then, given council consider the project to be on course, why the applicant hadn’t considered the community initiative.
“This is more of a plea to the applicant ... to possibly tweak your planning a little bit so we can still continue with the project of the rail trail between Castlemaine and Maryborough,” she said.
Councillor Jake Meyer also questioned why the plans could not be moved to accommodate the rail trail.
“Why can’t they stick up for a community that’s going to bring more to us than someone that’s going to put chickens in a shed and doesn’t give much back after it’s built,” he said.
CMRT’s project, however, may not be considered if the application goes to VCAT.
In their decision for the Baringhup broiler farm they said, because construction of the rail trail was not imminent, they were unable to give weight to any adverse impact on the rail trail as a tourism project.
“The rail trail has not advanced to the stage that it is a recognised project or feature under the planning scheme,” the decision read.
Council’s recommendation removed the composting pad among its permit conditions but Cr Murphy said these could change if VCAT became the authority in a successful appeal.
“These amended plans and permits safeguard us in some way about this broiler farm,” he said.
“That allows us to have some say over it.”
Mr Vukadinovic previously told The Maryborough District Advertiser he has plans to build numerous broiler farms on the Moolort Plains.
Councillor Bartlett also said a neighbouring shire had been approached about another application in recent weeks.
“Its natural beauty is being adversely affected,” he said.
Councillor Liesbeth Long was not present due to a conflict of interest.