Jodee and Phil Shead built their home in 1996 on a property near the club, which has been at its current location since the 1980s.
They said monthly shoots were being held when they moved in, along with the annual state carnival.
They said the noise and frequency of shoots had increased over the years, especially since the grounds were improved around 2016.
“Since after the upgrades, the noise was through the roof,” Mr Shead said.
“People are saying ‘you moved over the road from a gun club’, but when we actually moved in here, it wasn’t as bad as what it is now,” Mrs Shead said.
The club is a state ground for the Victorian Clay Target Association and is used for national championships, Olympic Games training and school students, among other events.
The Sheads said they had tried to work with the club to reduce the noise previously, but communication between both parties had been sparse.
“We’ve always said from the start: we don’t want to close it down, we just want you to be reasonable with us,” Mrs Shead said.
Before engaging the EPA, they also tried other avenues to address the noise, such as contacting state Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh and Campaspe Shire Council.
“It’s stressful, very stressful, the fact that we’ve gone to people and no-one’s cared,” Mrs Shead said.
The Sheads said they decided to purchase their own noise meter and record sound levels at their property to justify their concerns.
After providing a logbook to the EPA, they said noise testing was conducted at the their property by the regulator, including during a state carnival in November 2023.
The EPA told the Riv that data from the tests breached provisions in the Environment Protection Act 2017, leading it to issue the club with an improvement notice.
The club complied with the EPA and organised for an acoustic sound engineer to prepare a report on noise reduction, but has disputed the regulator’s decision.
A point of contention has been raised over the amount of noise, measured in decibels, the club is allowed to produce under the ‘Noise from outdoor shooting ranges’ guidelines.
Self-imposed restrictions on shooting times and measures to reduce noise, including planting a wall of trees, have been put in place by the club.
The club did not wish to provide comment, as the matter is currently before VCAT.
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