Burnside venue to face Regional Development Assessment Panel after Shire of Augusta-Margaret River ‘no’

The Shire of Augusta-Margaret River will oppose plans for a major new winery on Burnside Road amid concerns about the scale of the proposal.

Councillors have signed off on planners’ Responsible Authority Report which recommends WA’s Regional Development Assessment Panel reject the project.

The reasons for the refusal mostly centred on the scale of the proposal and the perceived limited agriculture on site to justify the development within the priority agricultural zone.

The bid sought permission for up to 200 patrons at the proposed cellar door, brewery, sales outlet and restaurant — which would be open seven days a week.

The latest application rejected by planners followed a previous approval for a lower scale project in 2017 with permission for 80 patrons at the 33 hectare property.

The 2017 approval also rejected a pitch to host up to 15 events per year.

The kitchen, al fresco dining area and restaurant component measured 580sqm.

The operators previously lodged a State Administrative Tribunal bid to amend conditions, with vines and an orchard since planted and some buildings partly constructed.

About 5.8ha of vineyard and orchard had been planted towards a final goal of about 11ha.

However, the shire report said the agriculture was dwarfed by the commercial prospects of the operation and also cited bushfire concerns if more than 100 patrons were approved by RDAP.

“The application proposes a significant increase in patron numbers from the previously determined application, as well as increasing the opening hours and decreasing the overall size of the agriculture proposed on site,” the report said.

“The primary ‘test’ as to whether the proposed use is acceptable or not is the extent to which non-agricultural uses are ‘incidental’ to the predominant agricultural use.

“The shire’s finding is that this is not the case.”

In making their decision last month, councillors compared other large-scale wineries they argued all had much bigger vineyards or orchards compared to the proposed 5.4ha of vines and apple orchard detailed for the Burnside Road site.

Deputy shire president Tracey Muir said two of the biggest operators in the region — Voyager Estate and Xanadu Wines — by comparison admitted 160 and 180 patrons respectively while having 18ha and 30ha of on-site vineyard as well as other productive sites at other locations.

Cr Muir said the application was not aligned with planning guidelines and did not constitute “low-impact tourism” as required within that zoning.

During public consultation, 14 of 15 submissions objected to the proposed increase in patrons and operating hours.

A date for the RDAP meeting was set for mid-October.