Landowners in an industrial estate in Brooklyn are fighting a plan to seal two dirt roads that help give the suburb the worst air pollution problem in Melbourne, arguing doing so would be a waste of money because part of the area will eventually be acquired for the east-west link.
Traffic on the two roads, which lead to a quarry and a landfill, among other industrial uses, stirs up 31 per cent of the dust that blows into Brooklyn, which has by far the highest number of poor air-quality days in Melbourne.
Residents of the suburb, in Melbourne’s west, have endured 28 days in the past year in which PM10 particles in the air exceeded safe levels, according to monitoring by the state Environment Protection Authority.
Under national guidelines, the safe level should not be exceeded on more than five days a year, a level not reached in any other monitored Melbourne suburb in 2012.
Health authorities say exposure to high PM10 levels contributes to the risk of developing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
Brimbank City Council plans to seal Jones and Bunting roads at a cost of $5.77 million. The Napthine government has committed $900,000, with the council pushing for the landowners to pay most of the balance under a special charge scheme.
But several of the landowners have combined to fight the charge at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, starting with a practice day hearing on Friday.
VicTrack, a government corporation, was originally among the objectors because it would have had to pay $77,000, but has agreed to pay a reduced charge of $45,000.
The remaining landowners argue they should not have to contribute to the cost of sealing the roads because the east-west link will eventually cross the industrial estate.
A letter to Brimbank council from Highfield Quarries, one of the objectors, said they previously supported sealing the roads but were not prepared to contribute to the construction since learning of the east-west link overlay.
Brimbank council’s director of infrastructure and environment, Paul Younis, said sealing the roads was important for people’s health, and would also benefit industry by modernising the estate.
”The sealing of both Bunting and Jones roads is part of a number of measures proposed by council and the EPA to reduce the amount of dust and odour being experienced,” he said.
Bert Boere, spokesman for the Brooklyn Residents Action Group, said sealing the roads was the single biggest improvement that could be made to air quality in the suburb.
