By VANESSA VALENZUELA
BRIMBANK residents are being urged to voice their concerns at the state’s planning tribunal as the hearing regarding the future of the former Sunshine Kealba quarry continues this week.
The VCAT hearing, which began on Monday 3 December, is scheduled to run for 10 days.
The long-running legal stoush began in August 2010, when the Barro Group applied for a permit to turn the former quarry site into a solid inert waste landfill.
The Barro Group lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court in June 2011 after VCAT upheld Brimbank City Council’s refusal to grant a planning permit application.
The Supreme Court sent the case back to VCAT to be reheard.
Residents Against Sunshine Kealba Quarry Inc (RASKQI) spokeswoman Marilyn Canet pleaded with the community to show their support for the cause.
“I must say that I was disgusted with the turnout of residents with only three bothering to turn up including myself,” Ms Canet said.
“This is extremely disappointing given the extensive effort that the council and resident group are putting in.
“Our respective legal teams are fighting this on behalf of the community, and impacted residents cannot even be bothered to get up off their arses to come along and support.”
Ms Canet said residents living in Melbourne’s west will continue to be treated unfairly because they refuse to stand up for their rights.
“This sort of application for a landfill would be unheard of in the eastern suburbs because residents in more affluent parts of Melbourne fight hard for their rights,” she said.
“In the western suburbs we are treated like second class citizens, our lives don’t seem to be valued the same.”
The call for support comes as the residents’ group was almost made insolvent for its efforts but an application to wind up RASKQI was settled out of court last month.
For more information about the hearing visit www.vcat.vic.gov.au
