Gate closed on entrance way

KATINA CURTIS

KIAMA Council has closed the gate on Gerhard Baden’s imposing entrance way and he wants to know if this is the welcome all new farmers in the area can expect.

Mr Baden erected a sandstone and steel post gateway on his Rose Valley farm about three months ago.

After the council instructed him to demolish the structure, he lodged a retroactive development application, which was rejected by the council at its meeting last Tuesday.

Mr Baden is farming the highly prized Wagyu beef cattle and said he needed the gates for security reasons.

The animals are valued at up to $10,000 each and Mr Baden hoped eventually to have a herd of about 180 – meaning he would have $1.8 million worth of cattle on his property.

“Because these are full-blood animals, the intention is to have Japanese customers come here to inspect the cattle. These gates are part of that package,” he said.

He believes the council should have negotiated with him because he was doing what they wanted genuine farmers in this area to do.

“The disappointing part of the whole thing is this: I’ve come to the area, I’m heavily into Wagyu breeding and I’m actually doing what the council wants,” he said.

“The mayor has been on television and said that they want farmers to grow crops. I’m growing crops on my top paddock. “They say they don’t want farms split into small lots.

“Guess what – I’ve joined two farms together and created 230 acres.

“I’m bringing them tourism, I’m bringing them expensive cattle, I’m bringing them crop farming.”

However, a council spokesperson said the proposal was rejected because it failed merit assessment requirements associated with the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act.

Mr Baden likes the gates and acknowledges that they might not be to everyone’s taste, but said he had signed statements from his six boundary neighbours in support of the application.

The council had received nine submissions regarding the gates, all in opposition.

These included comments such as “needlepoints on the top of bright ugly posts are like spears”, “the gates are so ugly” and “it looks like a gate for a factory or a correctional facility, not a rural dwelling”.

“There’s a bunch of people that complain about anything and everything in the area,” Mr Baden said.

Environmental services director Andrew Knowlson’s report to the council said gates no higher than 1.8m and of a different colour would be more appropriate in the setting.

Mr Baden said he had approached the council with an offer to change the colour of the steel posts and tried to contact the mayor and deputy mayor, but neither had replied.

He intends to appeal the council’s decision in the Land and Environment Court.