Towrang greenhouses project raises hackles

But the applicant, Ace Chan and his company, Thousand Sunny, are pleased with the planning approval for their vegetable growing venture.

Councillors conditionally approved the proposal for 966 Towrang Road at their meeting on Tuesday. Only Crs Sam Rowland and Margaret O’Neill voted against. Cr Alf Walker was an apology for the meeting.

The project involves construction of three 5000 square metre igloo-shaped greenhouses at the Towrang Road property. Three 110,000 litre rainwater tanks, a large evaporative pond, landscaping, driveway and associated works will also be installed.

Mr Chan intends to grow tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, chillies and zucchini, among other vegetables for the Sydney markets, supermarkets and Goulburn. The plants will be grown in large degradable coconut-fibre bags suspended from the greenhouse ceilings.

While Mr Chan is thrilled with the prospect, residents are less so. The plan drew four objections, three of whom spoke during Tuesday’s open forum.

Nearby landowners raised concerns about the bulk and scale of the 4.8 metre high greenhouses on largely cleared land, flooding and stormwater impacts, noise, odour and safety on Towrang Road, given eight truck movements a day, among other issues.

Planning consultant Gerard Turrisi spoke on behalf of a landowner, saying the intensive nature of the activity conflicted with the surrounding land use.

“Three greenhouses...covering 1.5 hectares of buildings. Councillors, visualise what we are talking about. That is three football field sized buildings,” he said.

“It is a cleared environment, not heavily vegetated and is characterised by farm buildings.”

Mr Turrisi argued that with the land slope and building height, the polycarbonate, steel-framed greenhouses would have a “dominant impact.” He told the meeting that the NSW Land and Environment Court had held that vegetation screening did not work because trees could die.

Mr Chan shifted the greenhouses further away in response to concerns and planted 600 trees to mitigate the visual impact. 

“I spent $40,000 on them and planted them myself. I tried to satisfy people,” he told The Post. 

Mr Turrisi also called for a more comprehensive flood impact study on the land, saying it hadn’t been adequately assessed. He said the plan failed to meet the rural zone objectives and should be refused.

Neighbour Sue Searle, who with husband David trains harness racers on her property, told the meeting her home, on elevated adjoining land, would overlook the greenhouses, “with no ability to screen them with vegetation.

“There will be no relief for us,” she said.

She also maintained there was insufficient room to turn a truck and the driveway location was unsafe on the inside of a road bend, with “compromised visibility.” In addition, Mrs Searle and others argued trucks should not run during school bus pick-up and drop-off hours. 

“Everything should be considered with a proposal of this scale. It’s our life and I strongly ask you to consider the neighbours because it’s the value of our property and our lives that are being affected,” she said.

But planners recommended conditional approval, saying it was consistent with the RU1 primary production zone. While the use did not accord with the council’s planning policy for the area and would affect the landscape, these were not reasons for refusal.

Planning and environment director Scott Martin also told councillors that although the area was characterised by hobby farms, the RU1 zone also encouraged diversity. He cited poultry farms as just one example of more intensive agriculture in the council area.

Mr Martin said planners believed the landscaping would offset the visual impact and that potential flooding effects had been addressed by the greenhouses’ relocation to higher ground and the fact the structures followed the natural land slope with no need for cut and fill.   

Deputy Mayor Peter told the meeting he was more concerned about the trucks than an agricultural use that was permitted in the zone.

“We have issues out in the rural areas with school buses and the times that trucks are moving,” he said.

“I think we need some kind of time restriction.”

A condition was added that trucks could not operate during school bus pick-up and drop-off hours.

Cr Sam Rowland voted against conditional approval on the basis of flooding, truck safety and visual amenity concerns.

After the meeting, Mr Turrisi said residents were disappointed.

“They’re pretty devastated...This was never about the agricultural use but the scale and location,” he said.

Mr Chan bought the property several years ago. He has worked in the horticultural industry on a Bargo property which has 10,000sqm greenhouses, “the largest in Australia.” Now he’s starting out on his own. 

“I wanted to (go into the industry) because of my friend. They have given me the contacts,” he said.

“(Aside from supplying supermarkets) I also want to sell my produce into Goulburn. I want to benefit the area.”

Mr Chan said while he appreciated people’s concerns and he had tried to accommodate them by relocating the greenhouses and planting trees, ultimately everyone needed to eat.

“If they don’t allow people to do it (build greenhouses), no one will grow these things,” he said. 

“People want to eat vegetables but they don’t want to look at greenhouses. I can’t believe it.”

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