Help Save Mountain View Nursery

Mountain View Nursery is a small, family-run plant nursery on the South Coast of New South Wales.

For nearly six years, we have grown and supplied thousands of native, ornamental, edible, and exotic plants to gardeners, schools, landscapers, environmental projects, and communities throughout NSW and the ACT.

What began as a passion for plants became a place where people could learn, connect, and create greener spaces for their families, businesses, and communities.

Today, the future of Mountain View Nursery is uncertain.

After almost six years of planning disputes, delays, expert reports, escalating requirements, and ongoing financial strain, we are now facing a difficult reality: if we want to preserve this nursery and eventually reopen our gates to the public, we may have no choice but to undertake works we believe are unnecessary, environmentally harmful, and financially devastating for a small family business.

Many people have asked:

• Why did the nursery gates close?
• What actually happened?
• How can we help?

This page answers those questions.

📖 The Story So Far

Mountain View Nursery  was established with a simple goal:

To grow healthy, locally adapted plants while helping people create beautiful gardens and landscapes.

Over the years, we invested heavily in:

• Growing quality plant stock
• Improving infrastructure
• Supporting local employment
• Serving our community
• Building a trusted reputation

As customer numbers grew, we lodged a Development Application (DA) to formalise our operation as a public-facing plant nursery.

A plant nursery is a land use that is permitted within our zoning.

At the time, we believed the application would be a routine planning process.

Instead, it became the beginning of what would grow into a six-year battle.

Our original application was rejected over the use of an aerial map despite similar documentation being accepted elsewhere.

We:

✅ Resubmitted applications
✅ Engaged consultants
✅ Commissioned reports
✅ Addressed concerns
✅ Complied with requests

Yet every time we believed requirements had been satisfied, new conditions emerged.

What should have been a straightforward planning pathway became an exhausting and expensive process that has consumed years of our lives.

⚖️ What Happened Next

Throughout this process, Mountain View Nursery continued operating as what it has always been:

A genuine plant nursery growing and propagating thousands of plants each year.

Despite this, council determined that our operation did not meet the definition of a nursery.

This decision triggered a Development Control Order and a series of escalating requirements that have significantly impacted the future of the business.

Independent planners, engineers, and consultants reviewed the matter and provided evidence supporting our position.

Despite this, many concerns remained unresolved and additional requirements continued to be imposed.

The Major Issue: Our Rural Access Road

The most significant requirement relates to the sealing of our shared rural Right of Way.

This quiet gravel road:

• Services only two rural properties
• Is legally established
• Experiences extremely low traffic volumes

Despite this, we have been required to pursue works that could involve substantial road upgrades and sealing.

The potential cost is far beyond what most small family businesses could reasonably absorb.

For years, we believed common sense, evidence, and proportionality would ultimately prevail.

Instead, we now face requirements that threaten the viability of the nursery itself.

🌿 Why we are Concerned

This issue has never been only about cost.

Mountain View Nursery exists because we care deeply about:

• Plants
• Biodiversity
• Landscapes
• Sustainable land management
• The environment

One of our greatest concerns has always been the environmental impact of some of the works being required.

The proposed changes have the potential to:

• Increase hard surfaces
• Increase runoff
• Raise local surface temperatures
• Alter habitat
• Impact wildlife corridors

As a business dedicated to growing plants and supporting greener communities, we find ourselves in the difficult position of being asked to undertake works that appear inconsistent with the environmental values we have spent years promoting.

Whether people agree with our position or not, we believe these questions deserve genuine consideration.