as a development assessment officer in local government, nothing...

as a development assessment officer in local government, nothing is a "done deal" until final consent is granted. Even if Council staff are confident of approval there is always possibility of mistakes during the assessment process, oversights/errors from external/internal departments. We're pretty much trained to give no indication to applicants of which way a decision will go until a determination is made.

Having said that I don't believe refusal of evap ponds is a major setback for mhm. And if MHM is confident of approval that might be the tune the Council are singing but just be aware that at times, when Council say it's going to be ok, not even they know it's not ok.