OWNERS of a farm outside Rathdowney are hoping to gain retrospective approval for short term accommodation.

Property owners, Rod and Kathleen O’Connell, run a farming and grazing operation on their 81-hectare property along Johnson Road.

In the application to Council, it is explained that the property can be divided into three precincts - the southern third which is a flat to undulating area associated with the floodplain of Burnett Creek; the middle third which is a cleared sloping area (the proposed development is located within this area) and the northern third which is steeper, vegetated land. The middle third also contains the owners’ home and rural outbuildings.

The proposal is to have a short-term accommodation activity on the site, in the form of three self-contained cottages. Two of the cottages are to be small, one bedroom accommodation units, the third is to be a larger cottage with three bedrooms. All three are to be self contained.

The application also noted that a poultry farm and short term accommodation were run on the property without development approval.

A ‘show cause’ notice was issued by Council and since then the poultry farm has been discontinued and the owners now hope to gain approval for a rezoning to allow a short term accommodation business to be undertaken on the property.

As part of the application, designs for carparking, wastewater treatment and disposal, a traffic report, an environmental assessment and a flood management plan were submitted.

The application is now being assessed by Council’s town planners.