A LAND division which Gawler Council fought to prevent in three separate court battles could be on the way as a result of one council motion.
At their meeting last week, elected members discussed an application from Bentley Road, Uleybury, landowners Peter Zweck and Jarna Millen to vary the land management agreement (LMA) on their property.
The owners had expressed interest in dividing their 32.5ha property into two 16ha and 16.5ha spaces and wanted to change a clause in the LMA which forbid further division of the land.
They cited climate change’s impact on the validity of primary production in the area as their reason for wanting to subdivide.
Councillors voted five-to-four in supporting a change to the LMA, which paves the way for Mr Zweck and Ms Millen to submit a formal development application.
The vote went against council staff recommendations, which stated it should be retained.
During debate, councillor Brian Sambell said allowing the LMA change would give council power to preserve Gawler’s “green belt”.
“That land will be houses, but hopefully not like some of the ones being built around here now with bathrooms facing each other,” he said.
“This is a chance to have a semi-rural-type development area. The land is becoming hugely expensive… you can’t make that out of farming.
“We need to bring it back and support and move forward. This is going to be a development, whether it’s now or five years later.”
It’s not the first time the pair have tried to divide the land, with a development application submitted in 2013 asking to divide into three portions – two 4ha in size and one 24.5ha.
It was rejected by the then-Development Assessment Panel (DAP) due to it contravening the LMA clause which forbids further division.
Importantly, the panel found the proposal was “hypothetical” and declined to consider it.
Mr Zweck appealed the decision in the Environment, Resource and Development (ERD) Court, with Judge Jack Costello ruling in favour of the council.
A subsequent Supreme Court challenge was more positive for Mr Zweck, with the Full Court deciding the proposal was not “hypothetical” and needed to be considered by the DAP.
He then submitted another development application, which was again rejected and challenged in the ERD court, where council received another favourable ruling.
After three court battles though, the motion passed last week means the landowners only need support from Playford Council and approval from Gawler’s Council Assessment Panel to proceed with their desired division.
Councillor David Hughes, who opposed the motion, said it would fragment rural land and lead to the end of the “green belt”.
“Once we start to fragment valuable cropping land, it certainly means there will be less of it and less cropping,” he said.
“It would jeopardise the overall objective of our rural zone if we do change it to rural living.
“I feel so strongly on this matter that I do plan on calling a division so that I can tell my family, children and grandchildren who was responsible for actually fragmenting our rural land.”