By NATALIE GALLENTI-BREKALO
MELTON and Brimbank residents have vowed to stop at nothing to save their neighbourhood from becoming the “rubbish capital of Australia”.
Hundreds of residents met in Caroline Springs last week to initiate action against the proposal to massively extend a landfill in Ravenhall.
In November last year Boral lodged a planning amendment with Melton City Council to dramatically increase the size of the existing tip to 179 million cubic metres or the equivalent of 105 times the size of the MCG.
Residents fear the landfill will be filled with garbage, including contaminated soil, piled to the height of a 15-storey building.
In attendance at the meeting was Melton City Council mayor Bob Turner, Cambridge Ward councillors Kathy Majdlik and Nola Dunn, Western Metropolitan Region MPs Bernie Finn and Cesar Melham and Kororoit MP Marlene Kairouz.
At the time of the meeting already 2000 people had signed a petition to stop the extension.
Long-time Deer Park resident and committee member of Stop the Tip Sean McAlpine-Jones told Star the proposed tip would mean residents across Melbourne’s West would constantly live with the stench of the landfill – which if built would be the largest in the southern hemisphere.
At the meeting Mr McAlpine-Jones called on local politicians to demand that the EPA and Boral make an ethical decision and stop the landfill.
“The smell just seeps through, you can’t get away from it, right up to St Albans and Braybrook,” he said.
Cambridge, Coburn and Watts Residents Association President Nathan Miles also attended the meeting and said “emotions were running high”.
Mr Miles said the proposed landfill had the potential to “destroy the Western Suburbs” with property prices destined to drop and he vowed to sell his property if the tip is expanded.
“The Melton municipality will be known as the rubbish capital of Victoria,” he said.
He put the onus on the council to make sure the matter is resolved with the fairest outcome for residents.
“The council need to stay on course with this … and see it through to the Supreme Court if it has to.”
Melton City Council’s planning services manager Bob Baggio said the council had received an application from Tract Consultants, acting on behalf of Boral, to amend their current landfill permit by increasing the area of the proposed landfill to match the area of Boral’s quarrying operations.
Mr Baggio said the application has been publicly advertised to affected landowners and occupiers and the council has already received 964 objections to date with council officers in the process of assessing the application.
Residents can still make a written submission to the council on the application.
“The matter will be considered by council in due course once all relevant issues have been considered,” Mr Baggio said.
