New estates in Wyndham will be less than two kilometres from the Ravenhall landfill if the state government approves an expansion of the tip site.
A planning application by Cleanaway reveals plans to expand the landfill by 311 hectares to the west and north-west of the existing site and extend its permit until 2069.
The existing landfill is now bounded by Christies, Hopkins and Riding Boundary roads.
If approved, the expansion would extend the landfill to Middle Road, Truganina – which falls under Melton council – and take it to about 1.5 kilometres from the Wyndham boundary.
The state government has taken over planning control from Melton and the application will go before an independent panel, which will consider submissions and hold public hearings before preparing a report for Planning Minister Richard Wynne to make the final decision.
Stop the Tip campaigner Marion Martin said that, if approved, the tip would be close to planned new estates, including the Rothwell estate in Truganina.
“There should be at least a 10-kilometre buffer between any residential development and a tip,” she said.
Fellow Stop the Tip member Margaret Hewitt said Caroline Springs and Deer Park residents were frequently bombarded with bad odours from the tip, and similar problems awaited Wyndham residents if the tip was extended.
Point Cook resident and former Sunshine mayor Bernard Reilly said the only tips in Victoria in 10 years would be those in Werribee, Ravenhall and Wollert.
Don’t Waste Wyndham spokesman Harry van Moorst said Wyndham council and residents could not afford to turn a blind eye.
“People in Wyndham need to think very seriously about the way these tips are being developed within the urban growth area – it’s just not acceptable,” he said.
“What the government is allowing [if approved] … is a couple of really big tips, and two will be on the borders of Wyndham.”
A Cleanaway spokesman said that if the application was approved, the active area where landfilling occurred would not increase in size.
“Only one active landfill cell is in use at any time, with only one operational face within that cell,” he said.
“Cleanaway is seeking approvals for the extension now, so any delay in approval does not impact on our ability to … have community waste safely disposed of.”
Wyndham council chief executive Kelly Grigsby said an extended landfill would remain more than 1.5 kilometres outside Wyndham; that was more than three times the minimum distance recommended by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA).
EPA chief executive Nial Finegan said it had conducted five licence compliance audits of the Ravenhall site since April 2015.
“No breaches have been identified and current operations can be described as best practice,” he said.
