As we shared with the community in early August, Hume City Council has commenced enforcement proceedings in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in relation to ongoing earthworks being undertaken in contravention of the Hume Planning Scheme on land at 370A and 430 Riddell Road, Sunbury.
On 21 August 2024, at a VCAT hearing for an interim enforcement order the occupier of the land gave a series of undertaking to the tribunal. Council applied for the interim enforcement order as a means of ensuring any immediate risk to the environment and our community was swiftly and appropriately managed.
The owners and occupier, who Council alleges carried out unlawful works, have been bound by VCAT to apply for a planning permit for works by a specified date and to immediately cease the works and the importation of fill on the property at 430 Riddell Road. While the undertakings to cease the works and importation of fill do not apply to the property at 370A Riddell Road, the undertakings acknowledge that if the occupier elects to continue to carry out works on that property, those works are not with Council's consent.
Council will continue to seek orders from VCAT that the unlawful works cease and that the properties be restored and rehabilitated to their condition prior to the works. This enforcement order has been fixed for a hearing in March 2025.
Council will continue to monitor the properties to ensure compliance with the interim enforcement order and to record the works if and as they occur. There are heavy penalties for a breach of an undertaking to the Tribunal. Council has reserved its rights to bring further proceedings if breaches occur.
