The fight to stop the expansion of Werribee tip will reach court next month after Wyndham council and the Western Region Environment Centre (WREC) failed to reach a truce during mediation.
The two parties had a compulsory conference earlier this month to see if the matter could be settled out of court, but WREC spokesman Harry van Moorst said neither was prepared to budge.
“There were no compromises that council was willing to make,” he said.
The matter will now go to a five-day hearing starting May 21.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal will undertake a review of the EPA’s 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.
Last month, Wyndham council called on the state government to intervene in the legal battle, saying the matter could escalate to a metropolitan-wide waste management crisis come November when the tip will be close to capacity and will have to turn away $13.6 million in commercial contracts.
Star Weekly understands the state government never responded to the council.
Wyndham council declined to comment.
