By Belinda Nolan
HUNDREDS of residents are expected to join the fight to stop a landfill from being built at the former Sunshine Quarry.
Lobby group Residents Against the Sunshine Kealba Quarry (RASKQ) is currently collecting signatures from residents who live near the site, seeking their permission to represent them in what they have dubbed a “David and Goliath” battle.
Site owner the Barro Group is taking Brimbank Council to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) after it knocked back the application earlier this year.
The 10-day hearing will be held between 3-20 December, with the tribunal set to hear evidence from the company, the council and community.
Residents have dug into their own pockets and scraped together a fighting fund to hire a junior barrister to contest the landfill proposal.
The council has also commissioned a legal team to fight the appeal and held a community information last week to brief the community about the VCAT process.
RASKQ spokeswoman Marilyn Canet said the session was well attended with around 50 residents turning up.
Residents attending signed documents, giving Ms Canet the right to represent them at the appeal.
Ms Canet said was hoping as many as 2000 people would sign on in the coming weeks.
