Four local Labor, Liberal and Greens MPs have vowed to “stand united” in their fight against a planned expansion of the Ravenhall landfill.
At a Stop The Tip meeting held in Caroline Springs last Wednesday, the politicians promised the crowd of about 200 that they would support them in their opposition to Cleanaway’s plans to expand the size of the landfill and its permit’s duration.
The politicians attending were Kororoit MP Marlene Kairouz and Western Metropolitan MLCs Colleen Hartland, Bernie Finn and Cesar Melhem.
Ms Kairouz said Planning Minister Richard Wynne’s teams were going through Cleanaway’s lengthy planning application, submitted to Melton council last month, with a fine-tooth comb.
She said Mr Wynne was expected to “call in” the application in the next few weeks.
Once an application is called in by the minister and a decision made, the applicants have no avenue of appeal.
MARLENE KAIROUZ
“The application is full of technical garbage, pardon the pun,” Ms Kairouz said.
“There are real impacts to the community and I know the Premier and minister will take all of those into consideration. The fight isn’t over … I will stand with you in this fight [against the expansion],” Ms Kairouz said.
Mr Finn implored people at the meeting to “get on the front foot” and let companies and governments know they had had enough of dealing with the stench of landfill so close to their homes.
Mr Finn said he was “absolutely staggered” about the plan to expand the size of the landfill.
“It affects way of life, health and children … every day is intolerable. To suggest making it bigger is outrageous,” he said.
Mr Melhem encouraged residents to make submissions to the state government when the minister calls in the application.
“You cannot have a tip and people next door – the two just don’t mix,” Mr Melhem said.
“The only reason we won this last time was because everyone worked together, got active and petitioned.
“Keep up the good work, keep up the fight. I’m with you all the way.”
Ms Hartland said the meeting wasn’t about “political scoring” but about local MPs getting together to fight for their community.
“The west isn’t the rest of Victoria’s dumping ground – this is not acceptable,” she said.
