Tamworth Regional Council to review decision to refuse DA for controversial Loomberah feedlot after Goonoo Goonoo Pastoral appeal

Goonoo Goonoo Pastoral claims that Tamworth Regional Council refused to even show it the 'SoilFutures report' - which was funded by opponents of their project - before rejecting their development application on the basis of the document last year.

The company this month lodged paperwork to kick off a section 8.2 review of the decision.

"The withholding of the SoilFutures Report meant that the applicant was denied an opportunity to consider and address the specific issues referred to therein generally..." the company paperwork says.

"This report then ultimately formed the primary basis of the DA's refusal."

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Goonoo Goonoo Pastoral claims the SoilFutures report inaccurately models odour, rainfall, groundwater pollution, and water use, and assumes their cows will produce twice as much manure as the industry average.

The company contracted additional environmental reports to refute the SoilFutures report, which it submitted to council with their section 8.2 appeal.

The document also repeatedly claims the Environmental Protection Authority would not "approve" the scheme, despite the feedlot being too small to require state government signoff, the company's response says.

A spokesperson for Tamworth Regional Council said it will engage an independent third party to review their own decision in accordance with section 8.2 of the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

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"Council has been compliant with NSW Planning legislation in relation to this development application," he said.

"The section 8.2 appeal will go back to council at a future council meeting."

Opponent and neighbour Wayne Collison said they don't accept the findings of the Goonoo Goonoo Pastoral experts.

Neighbours still believe the project is in the wrong spot, he said.

"There's been at least half a dozen rainfall events in the last twelve months that have caused extensive surface flows across that Lloma paddock and into the dam below one of the neighbours and then onto Sandy Creek," he said.

"If the feedlot had been there I don't know how his effluent dams would have gone."

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The company was told by council staff that they were too busy to redact input by objectors before its decision to refuse the DA, before they were provided an unredacted version of the report after it had done so, the company claims.

"At no stage did Council's planning officers advise [planning firm] Continuum ERS or the applicant that its technical assessments or any other aspects of the DA were not adequate," the paperwork says.

Council staff recommended approving the scheme.

Several councillors raised concerns that the decision to refuse the DA would not stand up to a legal appeal during an hour-long debate, but they ultimately voted 5-4 to refuse it.

The 999-head feedlot was submitted in December 2020 and would cost about $840,000 to build.

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