The Western Region Environment Centre is worried about the operation of proposed new “cells” at the Werribee and Ravenhall tips.
Centre spokesman Harry van Moorst said the group had lodged a submission with the Environment Protection Authority calling on the authority to knock back works approvals at both tips.
Mr van Moorst said the centre opposed works approvals for both sites because it believed that once the works were approved, the community would be excluded from any subsequent considerations.
The centre’s eight-page submission also recommends clarifying current legislation to remove works approvals altogether and consolidate the licence application process.
In a planning application lodged by Ravenhall landfill owner Cleanaway, the company is seeking to expand its tip by 311 hectares to the west and north-west of the existing site and extend the permit until 2069.
The state government will decide whether to grant the planning permit, while Wyndham council is expected to submit a works approval application to the EPA in coming months for construction of cells.
If the Ravenhall expansion is approved, the landfill will be about 1.5 kilometres from the Wyndham boundary.
Wyndham chief executive Kelly Grigsby told Star Weekly in May the proposal did not include an expansion of the landfill site and would not radically increase the amount of waste dumped at the tip.
“The council is committed to not changing the currently approved height of the landfill and to securing and expanding the buffer zone around the site to eliminate any potential issues from future residential developments,” she said.
EPA development assessments manager Tim Faragher said the authority had recently held information sessions as part of its consultation period for the Ravenhall application.
According to the Environment Protection Act 1970, the EPA is required to make a decision on works approval applications within four months of receiving complete applications.
