Yumbah Aquaculture’s $60m Portland abalone farm proposal rejected by VCAT

Residents of a Victorian seaside community are celebrating the rejection of a proposal to establish one of the largest on-land abalone farms in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) knocked back Yumbah Aquaculture’s $60 million plan at Dutton Way in Bolwarra, near Portland, which had been approved by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and the Glenelg Shire Council.

But the council’s planning permit has now been set aside by the tribunal.

The VCAT hearings…