What we have been doing so far.

Although life has been somewhat restricted in the last few weeks due to Covid-19 and the lockdown, we have been quite busy.

Between 11th February, when we completed the property purchase, and 29th March when we went into stage 3 of lockdown, we had the opportunity to meet onsite with various contractors to discuss replacing the old, broken fences and hedging with new fencing and gates; drilling for water (from the deep lead) and the building of a large farm shed as an activities building.

We were fortunate to squeeze in a pre-planning meeting with the Macedon Ranges Shire Council Planning Department just before the lockdown commenced. It was a very positive and helpful meeting. Both the planners gave us valuable guidance on applying for the formal planning permits and encouraged us to move forward.

This period of splendid isolation has given us all the time we needed to register Mark's Country Place as a not for profit company, apply to the Australian Charities and Non-profit Commission (ACNC) for charitable status, and the Australian Tax Office (ATO) for Goods and Services Tax (GST) exemption. After filling in and filing numerous forms online, we were pleased to receive both charitable status and GST exemption in a relatively short space of time. Thanks go to our lawyer, John Altmann, for his expertise in guiding us through this unfamiliar process. Since we are now an official charity, we have also formed a Board of Directors.

During lockdown we have been working with Caddick Designs on preliminary site plans and concept drawings for both the garden and the activities building. We are looking forward to an easing of the lockdown so that we can start turning these ideas, concepts and plans into reality.