New landfill ‘cells’ will be used at the Werribee tip under a Wyndham council plan, but chief executive Kelly Grigsby insists the move will not radically increase the amount of waste dumped at the site.
The council will submit an application to the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) for approval to construct landfill cells at the Werribee Refuse Disposal Facility (RDF).
Ms Grigsby said the council planned to lodge its application before the end of August.
She said the council was not proposing an expansion of the landfill site, only the building and use of new cells within the existing site.
“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.
“By the end of this financial year, the landfill will receive 550,000 tonnes of waste. As the RDF is not being expanded, this figure is not expected to change significantly.”
The EPA is required to make a decision on works approval applications within four months of receiving complete applications, according to the Environment Protection Act 1970.
Ms Grigsby said the council had adopted a “forward thinking” strategic plan for the Werribee tip that “included initiatives such as recycling and resource recovery, and environmental education, to lead the way in reducing waste to landfill”.
“Council is currently developing a waste and litter strategy with the aim of diverting 90 per cent of the waste generated in Wyndham away from landfill.
“It’s proposed that this will be achieved by improving infrastructure, investigating alternative waste treatment measures and pre-sorting options at our landfill.”
Don’t Waste Wyndham spokesman Harry van Moorst said the group opposed the council’s plans because it believed that once the works were approved, the community would be excluded from any subsequent considerations.
“It’s only the works approval that allows for any community involvement,” he said.
The council’s plans follow a Star Weekly report that revealed new estates in Wyndham would be less than two kilometres away from the Ravenhall landfill if the state government approves an expansion of that site.
A planning application lodged by Cleanaway reveals plans to expand the Ravenhall landfill by 311 hectares to the west and north-west of the existing site, and to extend the permit until 2069.
The existing landfill is currently bounded by Christies, Hopkins and Riding Boundary road.
If the Ravenhall expansion is approved, the landfill will be about 1.5 kilometres from the Wyndham boundary.
