By ALANA MITCHELSON
A Mt Duneed farmer is fighting state plans to bisect his historic property for a train yard.
The project will separate Stanley Larcombe’s paddocks for 5000 sheep from his shearing shed and holding yards.
A Freedom of Information document reveals that State Government signed off on a compulsory acquisition for 35 hectares of the farm in July, but Mr Larcombe says he was not informed until August.
The State Government wants the 1.9km long, 200m wide strip of land, south of the Geelong-Warrnambool rail line, to store and maintain 24 eight-carriage trains.
Mr Larcombe and brother Gordon’s 455ha property, Cromer, has been in the family for over 100 years after early settler James Henty founded it in 1855.
“To replace all of our sheds and relocate equipment is going to cost a fortune, not to mention it will isolate our home and it will be inefficient to be constantly driving back and forth,” Mr Larcombe said.
The acquisition would also wipe out a crossing between paddocks, which his sheep used up to 10 times a day.
“We were told we’d have to truck our livestock – they’ve got no idea,” Mr Larcombe said.
Mr Larcombe said government officials initially led him to believe he could refuse the acquisition.
“They said that if we weren’t interested, they’d walk away. That was their exact words.”
The officials also indicated the Larcombes would be compensated but gave no specific figures, Mr Larcombe said.
The family was told re-zoning could take up to 18 months.
“In that time, there is a cloud hanging over our heads,” Mr Larcombe’s daughter, Lisa, said.
“We can’t make plans for the future of the farm because we don’t know where we stand.”
Ms Larcombe said the development would “contradict” Geelong planning scheme provisions supporting the “ongoing use of land for agriculture” and to ensure “the rural landscape character of the rural area is preserved”.
State Parliament has heard nearby Boral cement works land could be an alternative site to save the Larcombe farm.
But Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan said the government wanted the best location.
“Public Transport Victoria advise that the main issues with the Boral site are how costly and time-consuming it would be to fill the quarry and long-term concerns about the structural integrity of the site once filled,” she said.
“Acquisition of land is never easy for those affected. PTV and the department will continue to work with land owners through this difficult but necessary process.”
In an email to Ms Larcombe, Ms Allan said City Hall supported “construction of the facility on the identified site”.
A City spokesman said: “This is a matter for Public Transport Victoria and the State Government and is therefore not a matter that council should comment on”.
