Once we had approval for our Waste Management System (in January 2012) the process to Council approval was straightforward. We were required to obtain a 'Statement of Support' and a 'Statement of Effect' prepared by a qualified Planner for submission to the Council. Once again we were lucky enough to find a professional Planner who was helpful and efficient and kept all his promises with regard to timeframes for delivery of his reports (the latter is rare and was greatly appreciated following the delays we have experienced so far - once again contact details available on request). Next Council advertises the project for community feedback as is required for non complying developements such as ours. One representation was received which was answered by our planner who had done our Statement of Effect etc. Next was the Council meeting which assessed our application in light of the recommendations of council staff to approve. We attended this meeting and were asked a few questions by the chair of the meeting and then after in-private deliberations Council Planning Approval was granted in April 2012 . Our initial application was submitted April 2011 but most of the year in between was spent finding the waste management system (see previous post).
Council has specified a requirement for a Soil Erosion and Drainage Management Plan prepared by a suitably qualified person for soil management during the build and has now forwarded our application to the State Government Planning Authority as is also required for a non complying development. We have been told this process takes 10 weeks and are waiting with baited breath.........
Monday, April 9, 2012
The Poo Problem...
Our block has electrical services and mains water available but no sewer connection so onsite waste disposal was our next challenge. Due to the steep terrain a standard septic tank is not allowed by the Council or Health Department regulations so we set about looking at the aerobic management systems that are required to meet regulation criteria. Some are assessed by Council and what are known as 'alternative' waste management systems must be assessed by the South Australian Department of Health. It appeared that the most common systems were the BioCycle or the RiTreat however we also found a system based around a worm farm that we considered more effective in that it didn't need to be sludge pumped on a reguar schedule. Aerobic systems like the BioCycle and the RiTreat also required quarterly maintenance contracts and the retailer for the worm farm system we looked at was willing to train us as registered providers to do our own quarterly maintenance checks.The firm in question (Biolytix) seemed to offer an environmentally friendly and effective system that would suit us 'down to the ground' (pun intended :) ) Unfortunately Biolytix went into liquidation not long thereafter :( ) Back to the drawing board.
We were sold on the wormfarm idea so looked for alternatives based on the same premise and found another company interstate that also manufacture and install a worm farm based waste management system.
We unfortunately made the mistake of trusting that the companies that manufacture and install these systems could adequately advise us about whether or not their systems would meet with Council and Health Department approval. This is emphatically not the case. It took the wasted expenditure of another soil test and a doomed from the start application (with the associated dollars) to learn this lesson. Our advice would be to meet in person with relevant staff at both the local Council and the Department of Health to seek their advice of the options out there for these systems and which ones may actually be suitable. They obviously cannot recommend particular manufacturers or sytems but they can make you aware of what systems are available and supply a lot of other useful information. Ultimately the onsite waste dispersal was our main issue due to the slope of the land and finding a solution to this particular problem took a lot of work, research and frustrating discrepencies in information to sort through. Do not rely on the sellers of these systems to advise you - look to your council, the Department of Health and a suitably qualified Engineer to find a solution. Your system will require (after recent legislation changes) ratification by a Geotechnical Engineer before it will obtain approval anyway. I stress speaking to the Coumcil officers and Health Department Officers in person if you can. They have invaluable information and anecdotal experience that cannot be imparted in emails and phone calls. Had we done this before relying on the manufacturers we would have saved ourselves an enormous amount of frustrating and time consuming mistakes.
Some way into this process we did happen upon another one of those professionals who likes to talk and is helpful and happy to pass on the benefit of vast experience in their field. As with our earth moving contractor - people like this waste management expert seem to revel in going above and beyond in terms of the information and help they can give. (We're happy to pass on names for those that enquire about these marvellous people). Finding a professional like this would be the second most helpful advice we can offer with regard to finding a waste management system. Finally with the help of this professional we found a suitable sytem that had a disperal field that would cope with the extreme slope of our block. We settled on an Ozzi Kleen with a drip dispersal field. There was a little time involved in refining this system to meet the standard for ratification by a Geotechnical Engineer however once we were talking to the right people the solution became much clearer and progress toward approval much easier. Finding this system has been our single largest impediment and has taken the most time in the Planning Approval process.
We were sold on the wormfarm idea so looked for alternatives based on the same premise and found another company interstate that also manufacture and install a worm farm based waste management system.
We unfortunately made the mistake of trusting that the companies that manufacture and install these systems could adequately advise us about whether or not their systems would meet with Council and Health Department approval. This is emphatically not the case. It took the wasted expenditure of another soil test and a doomed from the start application (with the associated dollars) to learn this lesson. Our advice would be to meet in person with relevant staff at both the local Council and the Department of Health to seek their advice of the options out there for these systems and which ones may actually be suitable. They obviously cannot recommend particular manufacturers or sytems but they can make you aware of what systems are available and supply a lot of other useful information. Ultimately the onsite waste dispersal was our main issue due to the slope of the land and finding a solution to this particular problem took a lot of work, research and frustrating discrepencies in information to sort through. Do not rely on the sellers of these systems to advise you - look to your council, the Department of Health and a suitably qualified Engineer to find a solution. Your system will require (after recent legislation changes) ratification by a Geotechnical Engineer before it will obtain approval anyway. I stress speaking to the Coumcil officers and Health Department Officers in person if you can. They have invaluable information and anecdotal experience that cannot be imparted in emails and phone calls. Had we done this before relying on the manufacturers we would have saved ourselves an enormous amount of frustrating and time consuming mistakes.
Some way into this process we did happen upon another one of those professionals who likes to talk and is helpful and happy to pass on the benefit of vast experience in their field. As with our earth moving contractor - people like this waste management expert seem to revel in going above and beyond in terms of the information and help they can give. (We're happy to pass on names for those that enquire about these marvellous people). Finding a professional like this would be the second most helpful advice we can offer with regard to finding a waste management system. Finally with the help of this professional we found a suitable sytem that had a disperal field that would cope with the extreme slope of our block. We settled on an Ozzi Kleen with a drip dispersal field. There was a little time involved in refining this system to meet the standard for ratification by a Geotechnical Engineer however once we were talking to the right people the solution became much clearer and progress toward approval much easier. Finding this system has been our single largest impediment and has taken the most time in the Planning Approval process.
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