Benjamin Millar
The long-running battle to halt expansion of the Ravenhall tip could be headed to the High Court after a challenge to millions more tonnes of waste being dumped in the landfill was knocked back by the Victorian Court of Appeal.
The state government first gave the green light to a 96-hectare expansion of the Cleanaway-operated Melbourne Regional Landfill in 2017.
The decision sparked an appeal by Brimbank and Melton councils and community campaigners Stop the Tip to overturn the decision in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) due to impacts including increased odour, landfill gas and other wastes.
The VCAT hearing heard from nearby residents who complained about existing and potential odour issues at the tip – the state’s largest landfill – but the tribunal backed the original decision.
Developer Mt Atkinson Holdings, which has significant residential and industrial developments underway on nearby land, fought to have the decision overturned in the Supreme Court’s Court of Appeal.
But in a decision handed down just before Christmas, the court knocked back the challenge and upheld the earlier approval for the seven new cells, expected to extend the life of the landfill from 2023 to 2036.
MRL currently receives about 11 million tonnes of waste each year and this is expected to increase over time.
Melton council chief executive Kelvin Tori said the council remains concerned about the tip’s expansion.
He said Mt Atkinson Holdings Pty Ltd is now seeking special leave to appeal to the High Court.
“Melton City Council is not a party to this process, however remains concerned with any expansion of the MRL,” he said.
“In a fast growing community such as ours, where residential and business investment is booming, the last thing the we need is the further expansion of a waste facility that has the potential to accept toxic soil not only from the West Gate Tunnel Project, but also from other major infrastructure projects, long term.”
Brimbank mayor Ranka Rasic said the council remains opposed to any proposed expansion and intensification of activities at the landfill.
“Along with council’s original ‘Stop the Tip’ campaign, the more recent joint ‘Stop the Soil’ campaign alongside Melton City Council opposed the proposal for Ravenhall to accept, process and store contaminated soil from the West Gate Tunnel Project.”
Cr Rasic warned that expanding and intensifying landfill and waste storage activities across the west would affect the health and wellbeing of the local community and environment, and hinder efforts to maximise economic and job opportunities.
“Brimbank’s Environmental Equity Agenda acknowledges that Melbourne’s west has borne the unfair brunt of absorbing the state’s waste, landfill, contamination, pollution and transport needs for too long.”
Mt Atkinson Holdings Pty Ltd and Cleanaway did not respond by deadline.
