Motocross Champ Hits Shire Road Block
Your locally owned 5000 copies circulating in Toodyay, West Toodyay, Goomalling, Postage Bolgart, Calingiri, Morangup, Northam, Coondle, Hoddys Well, December 2018 community newspaper Paid Wattening, Dewars Pool, Culham, Bejoording, Nunile, Julimar, Bakers Edition 375 Est. 1902 Hill, Clackline, Wooroloo, Wundowie, Gidgegannup and local districts. Australia Motocross champ hits shire road block Roger Simms A 2.4km motocross training track built without approval on farmland in Wattening is now in limbo and may have to be closed down or removed following a decision by the Toodyay Shire Council. The dirt track, with banks, turns and jump points, covers an area 450m by 250m on an 818-acre property in Bull Road near the border of the Toodyay and Victoria Plains shires, about 4km south of Bolgart. Steve Walsh and Karene Quinn applied for retrospective approval of the track which is used by Mr Walsh’s son Darren, a state motocross champion. The track has drawn strong community opposition over concerns about noise and dust pollution and possible contamination of a water source. Landowners, the Water Corporation, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and The Victoria Plains Shire all opposed the application in submissions to the council or urged more checks, especially about water. The recommendation to council at last week’s meeting, however, was that the application be approved. Planning officer Hugo de Vos said in his report that a thorough examination of the proposal made it difficult to justify refusal. Many of the concerns raised were related to potential future development, which went beyond the scope of the application.
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