Cade Lucas
Rail operator Pacific National’s plans to build an interstate freight hub at Little River suffered a setback last week when Wyndham council denied the company permits to clear vegetation on the proposed site.
On Tuesday February 13, Wyndham council’s planning committee considered two applications for vegetation removal – one to allow for archeological excavations and the other for geotechnical assessments – as part of pre-construction works at the 500ha site on Old Melbourne Road, Little River.
While council officers recommended the permits be issued, the scale of what Pacific National proposed to do caused concern among committee members given the site is in a designated green wedge zone and borders the Western Grasslands Nature Conservation Reserve.
More than 700 trenches would be dug on the site during the archaeological investigation alone.
“When we saw what was actually gonna be done, we realised it was going to destroy a lot of pristine land,” said councillor Peter Maynard who introduced alternative motions to refuse the permits based on damage they would do to biodiversity, land and water on the site.
The motion to refuse the permit for archaeological excavation was passed 6 vote to 4, with mayor Jennie Barrera among those against, while only deputy mayor Josh Gilligan voted against the motion to refuse geotechnical assessments.
In October last year Pacific National announced plans to build its own freight terminal at Little River after growing frustrated with delays in the development of the publicly funded Western Intermodal Freight Terminal (WIFT) in Truganina.
The lease on Pacific National’s current base at Dynon Road in West Melbourne, runs out in 2029 and the company has argued building its own terminal at cost of between $3 and $5 billion, was the only way it would have an alternative site ready in time.
Pacific National’s Little River proposal has met fierce opposition from the local community, with many concerned about air and noise pollution from the site and its impact on threatened species and biodiversity in the nearby grassland reserve.
Cr Maynard, who represents Iramoo ward which covers Little River, acknowledged the level of opposition in the town and said he hopes both it and the permit refusals will force Pacific National into a rethink.
“I hope the groundswell of opposition provides impetus to WIFT,” he said of the freight hub proposal in Truganina which Wyndham and other western suburbs councils still support.
However, Cr Maynard said he expects the company to appeal council’s decision at VCAT, something a spokesperson for Pacific National hinted at in response.
“Pacific National is now considering our next steps in the approvals pathway,” the spokesperson said, adding that work on the Little River proposal would continue.
“Pacific National is also hosting an online public information session to learn more about the proposed Little River Logistics Precinct from 7pm on Thursday 22 February, and will hold drop-in information sessions in the Little River community in late March.”
