Wyndham council has called on the state government to intervene in a legal battle over the Werribee tip expansion, saying the matter could escalate to a metropolitan-wide waste management crisis come November.
Mayor Peter Maynard said the council has formally requested that Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio, use her powers under the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act and request that the planning minister call in the contested EPA works approval.
The Western Region Environment Centre (WREC) has successfully applied for VCAT to undertake a review of the (EPA) decision to approve an expansion of Werribee tip, which would allow the council to build four cells that can reach up to 29 metres above natural ground level. This is the height limit enforced on the tip’s existing cells.
The parties will have a compulsory conference this week and, if unsuccessful, the matter will go to a five-day hearing starting April 21.
Cr Maynard said due to the legal action, the tip will be close to capacity and the council will have to turn away $13.6 million in commercial contracts come November. The tip will still remain open for Wyndham residents and businesses.
Wyndham council city operations director Stephen Thorpe said come November, other councils will have to fork out, on average, an extra $200,000 a month in higher gate fees and transport costs to dump their rubbish in another landfill.
“We know we’re going to have to close at some point, the key issue for us is when are we going to be able to re-open? That’s why we’ve asked for the minister to call it in, to give us some certainty about that timeframe.”
But WREC spokesman Harry van Moorst said he wasn’t buying it.
“We’re only asking for two things at the moment: one, that they reduce the height … and that it only be a five-year approval, which is double what they have been getting for individual cells. If they don’t want to compromise that’s fine, but don’t blame us.”
The state government refused to respond to specific questions posed by Star Weekly. A spokesman for Ms D’Ambrosio said: “As this is currently a matter before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal it would be inappropriate to comment”.
