Community groups fear they will lose the right to appeal against planning permits after the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal excluded Western Region Environment Centre (WREC) from a hearing on the expansion of a Wyndham tip.
VCAT ruled that WREC had no standing in the case because it was not directly affected by Wyndham council’s application to change a planning permit it had issued itself for the Wests Road landfill.
WREC applied to be part of the hearing so it could represent the concerns of residents who want the tip lowered to ground level.
Centre director Harry van Moorst said the decision to “strike out” WREC could have implications for other community groups.
“If a community or church group wanted to protest against a gambling hall or brothel they could be excluded unless they are directly affected,” he said.
A spokesman for Stop The Tip, a community group set up to fight the proposed expansion of Boral’s Ravenhall landfill, said there were grounds for concern about the ruling.
“Stop The Tip believes that the community’s voice must always be heard, whether by councils, VCAT or the state government,’’ the spokesman said.
But Monash University property law expert Pamela O’Connor said VCAT usually only allowed parties to be added to a hearing if it felt they would be affected by the proceeding or would be bound by, or have the benefit of, an order made by the tribunal.
