Hannah Hammoud and Jennifer Pittorino
Members of a local air quality advocacy group are calling on the state government to prevent a Brooklyn waste management company from building a soil-washing facility.
In a letter penned to the Environment Minister Ingrid Stitt, the Inner West Air Quality Community Reference Group said the Brooklyn and West Sunshine communities ‘vigorously oppose’ the development of the proposal in the interests of the health, safety and liveability of its residents.
“This community has been fighting for more than 20 years for the right to breathe clean air and are sick and tired of being the city’s dumping ground. This proposal has left residents distressed and wondering if their plight will ever be taken seriously,” the letter read.
Waste management company ResourceCo said in a letter sent to residents that it is seeking to submit a Development Licence Application for the addition of a soil-washing facility within the existing site at 125 Bunting Road, Brooklyn.
ResourceCo said it intends to receive 200 tonnes of material per hour from 6am to 6pm through Monday to Friday, with an annual limit of 500,000 tonnes per year.
The company said material that arrives at site will be stored in designated areas within existing sheds to await processing.
The Inner West Air Quality Community Reference Group was established by the state government in 2018, with representatives from the community, local councils and community groups, to investigate and better understand local air pollution issues, concerns, and sources across Melbourne’s inner west, including Brimbank, Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong local government areas.
Reference group member Geoffrey Mitchelmore said in 2020 the group recommended that the state government phase out work in the Brooklyn industrial precinct, advising that it be moved outside of the metropolitan Melbourne area.
“We have asked the government to stop this and now we have this major organisation wanting to do this five days a week, 12 hours a day,” he said.
“It is a big operation and it’s exactly what we didn’t want to have to deal with.
“The material will be coming from right across Melbourne on 240 trucks a day and mostly 240 trucks out, which is not what we want.
“When the West Gate tunnel project is finished, we’re expecting an extra 7000 trucks a day, this will just add to that.
“The place is just going to be one great big truck parking lot.”
Mr Mitchelmore said the group is calling on the Environment Minister to stop the development.
“We are hoping that the Minister will react and do something about it, and act on what we recommended three years ago,” he said.
“We were hoping that we would see a lot more of these organisations disappear over the last three years, but it hasn’t happened, and it’s time that it does happen.
“We have been in this dreadful industrial situation for the last 17 years. We are hoping the pressure we put on now will sort it out.”
Brimbank council’s director of city futures Kelvin Walsh said council has not received formal notification of any proposal for the site.
“Council is aware residents of Brooklyn are very concerned about this proposal,” he said.
“… The site in question has a current planning permit for a recycling operation. Once council is provided with details of the proposal, a thorough assessment will be undertaken to determine whether the current permit authorises the proposal or whether further planning approval is required.”
ResourceCo said its application for the proposed soil-washing facility is still in its early stages.
“As a part of this process, proactive community engagement is currently underway. The proposed facility is an extension of our existing soil reuse and recycling capabilities to remove contaminants from soil, making it ready for reuse,” ResourceCo said.
The Minister for Environment was contacted for comment.
