TITANIA Road grazier Farley Bartholomeusz says he has lost thousands of dollars in income in a recent dog attack on his property and he fears worse is to come if a controversial subdivision opposite his property goes ahead.
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Mr Bartholomeusz found two of his sheep dead and a third seriously mauled on his property recently.
"Just counting the wool, this will run into three or four thousand dollars [in lost income] over the lifetime of the animal,” he said.
Having dogs roaming the paddocks is unacceptable, he said, and “it's way too late to call council's animal controller after the sheep have been killed".
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Mr Bartholomeusz believes dog attacks will increase if a proposed 40-small lot subdivision opposite his property goes ahead.
"I have written to council voicing my concerns to such threats. The land at 175 Titania Road is zoned R5. That zoning is there to provide a buffer to protect productive agricultural land from unsuitable development and to eliminate land use conflicts,” he said.
"But what does council do? Rather than trying to resolve and eliminate land use conflicts, it has gone ahead and conditionally reduced minimum lot sizes to one hectare for this proposed development. If this development goes ahead, I anticipate there could be 30 to 40 additional dogs on those 70 hectares.
"Every neighbour of the proposed development has told council that it is on the wrong track and that approving the development will have serious financial and operational repercussions on their land, facilities and livestock.
"Council needs to go back to the beginning of this development application and get it right once and for all. Council is obligated to apply the full weight of Section 79C of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 to this DA.
“Council will expose itself to a full investigation by the regulatory bodies and legal risks if the state and federal laws for the planning proposal and the proposed DA were not scrupulously followed. Stock losses and biosecurity is at risk."
A decision on the subdivision will come before council’s December meeting.
