Kiln noise plea heats up

By Kath Gannaway
A POWELLTOWN resident who says he can’t sleep at night because of noise from an adjoining sawmill will have to wait until 9 November to see if Yarra Ranges Council supports his plea for “a bit of peace and quiet”.
A retrospective planning application by Powelltown Sawmills for two kilns and drying sheds was deferred after confusion about how many kilns are on the site and what constitutes an acceptable noise level.
Ron Gribble said he was a third generation Powelltown resident whose father and grandfather had worked in the timber industry.
He called for independent noise tests done after the EPA recommended that fans operating in the kilns should run at no more than 30 per cent of maximum speed from 6pm to 7am.
Mr Gribble told the council he had been reporting the noise for three years to the EPA, Yarra Ranges Council and to the operators of the mill.
“They say they run the fans at 40 per cent, but the number of fans they are running has gone up by over 100 per cent, he said.
He described the noise at times as like having a jumbo jet next to his house and rejected the 30 per cent suggested by the EPA saying an acceptable level during the night would be 10 per cent.
Confusion arose after Mr Gribble said there were seven kilns on the site, debate over the definition of permanent and temporary kilns and whether they are fan or steam driven.
John Smith, on behalf of Powelltown Sawmills, urged the council to approve the application saying it was specifically for two kilns and sheds built illegally.
“There will be an application for another permanent kiln probably within the next 12 months, but we need resolution so we can get permit applications for these buildings and move on,” he said.
He argued that the operation of additional fans was not part of the application and said five separate noise assessments had been done over the past one and a half years.
A motion to grant approval with a reduction of noise level from 30 per cent to 10 per cent was withdrawn after councillor Graham Warren argued that there was insufficient information to make a decision. “We have to get this right,” he said. “We have the EPA saying 30 per cent, if we say 10 per cent and the kilns can’t work on that speed, I don’t want to be responsible for the mill losing timber, or for losing employment in the area as a result,” he said.
Cr Samantha Dunn also wanted more information on the EPA recommendation.
“We know what the EPA has said, but that’s on two fans. We need far more information on what noise is coming from the site and what noise is being heard in Mr Gribble’s house,” she said.
The matter was deferred for four weeks.