Esther Lauaki
Wyndham’s creative community banded together at the weekend to make banners and placards to hang on a blockade at the entry of the Hobbs Road railway stabling yard.
It was the second demonstration by a Wyndham Vale group, which is protesting the state government’s proposal to dump toxic soil from the Westgate Tunnel project at the yard, following a rally attended by hundreds of residents earlier this month.
Community organiser Lisa Heinrchs said the message to the government remains the same.
“The soil is not welcome in Wyndham,” Ms Heinrichs said.
“We had a lot of residents come out and bring artwork, banners and collages to let the government know how they felt.
“We also had a big white banner and invited residents to come down and put their hand prints on it.
She said that another large rally which was planned for the steps on Parliament will not go ahead in the wake of the current Covid-19 public health crisis.
“While we won’t be conducting the rally, we are still monitoring activity at the Hobbs Road site and are ready to act if we need to,”Ms Heinrichs said.
A petition against the dumping of toxic soil in Wyndham was signed by more than 6000 people and was delivered to Werribee MP Tim Pallas this week to be tabled in Parliament on Thursday.
Esther Lauaki
