With the deadline to appeal the decision to reject the proposed Boral landfill expansion fast approaching, Melton and Brimbank residents are again preparing for battle.
In May, Melton City Council voted to reject the proposed expansion after it received 6600 written objections and a petition signed by 10,000 concerned residents, leaving Boral with 60 days to lodge an appeal with VCAT.
Stop the Tip spokeswoman Marion Martin told Star Weekly residents had already spoken to environmental lawyers in the lead-up to this month’s deadline and remained hopeful that the expansion would not go ahead even if Boral decided to appeal the matter.
Ms Martin urged residents to keep up the fight by emailing Planning Minister Matthew Guy to voice their opposition to the proposal.
She also called on residents to continue logging claims with the Environmental Protection Authority whenever they smell an odour, and reminded them to keep track of the date and time they called and the reference number they received.
“We don’t think it will end here, but we’re not going to let it go,” she said.
“We’ve been told the tip has another five to 10 years to go … but we don’t really want it here at all, right in the middle of an urban growth area.”
Ms Martin said the group had contacted the Ombudsman about the plight of women and children living at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, located only 500 metres from the landfill, while the Education Department has been contacted after reports of incidents of school children being forced off the playground and into classrooms because of offensive smells. Residents have also written hundreds of letters requesting that Mr Guy “call in” the matter, allowing for a more transparent appeals process.
Kororoit MP Marlene Kairouz said: “This massive expansion application warrants decision-making at the highest level of government; residents deserve this much.”
When contacted by Star Weekly regarding the chance of an appeal, a spokesman for Boral Property Group said the situation remained “unchanged at this time”.
