Landowners in Wyndham’s west fear the Wests Road landfill will bring down property values.
The landowners, many of whom have land that was assigned to be within the urban growth boundary in recent years, fear that no one will want to live in the municipality’s west if the tip continues to expand.
As reported by the Weekly, the council is seeking Environment Protection Authority approval to expand cell 4C at the tip to 24 metres above ground.
The EPA has granted approval for cells 4A and 4B to be built to the same height.
Landowners Lindsay and Karen Ingram believe the expanding tip is beginning to affect all of Wyndham.
“It is a severe nuisance because of odour, stigma, truck traffic, noise pollution and the blowing of trash in the wind,” Mr Ingram said. “People won’t want to move to the area.”
Western Region Environment Centre director Harry van Moorst said a 2005 US study found that landfills which accepted at least 500 tonnes of rubbish per day decreased property values by an average of 13.7 per cent.
“The Wests Road landfill accepts more than 1200 tonnes of waste per day, is very visible at 24 metres above ground level and has had growing numbers of odour complaints since rising above ground, according to its opponents. It is also near several proposed new housing estates,” he said.
But council chief executive Kerry Thompson said it was “extremely difficult” to analyse the effect the tip had on property values, because it had been at the current site for more than 30 years.
RMIT property valuation expert Matt Myers said the effect of landfills on property values was influenced by distance, odour, the type of tip, its proximity to urban areas and its visual impact. However, he said it would be difficult to measure the difference that the construction of a third cell at 24 metres above ground would make to property values.
