Christmas pong

By Kath Gannaway
YARRA Ranges Council is moving to shut down Australian Native Landscapes Coldstream Composting Facility.
With the “no odour” deadline of 30 September gone, and the odour still lingering, the shire started legal action at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) on 30 October to have the facility closed.
But while residents are looking to the future now with some hope of a stink-free environment, they will still be holding their noses over Christmas.
The application is not expected to go before VCAT until early in the new year.
Members of the Stink Abatement Action Group who met with Yarra Ranges mayor Tim Heenan on Saturday said they welcomed the move after almost two years of odour permeating their homes and their lives.
SAAG spokesman Tony King said it was disappointing that the measures – removing tons of rotting compost from the site – had not stopped the stink.
He said the line in the sand had been crossed with the deadline come and gone, and promises made in mediation not met by ANL.
The application calls for VCAT to make an order giving ANL 30 days from the date of a VCAT order to “cease and desist” all operations on the land.
A further 30 days would be given for ANL to restore the land to its prior condition.
The shire has called a community meeting for Monday 19 November in Coldstream to discuss the latest action with residents.
Cr Heenan and Ryrie Ward councillor Jeanette McRae are calling on people concerned about odour issues at the facility to attend the meeting to find out first-hand what action the shire and the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) are taking.
Cr Heenan said the shire is taking the legal action based on its planning permit condition.
“The shire granted a planning permit in 2004, in part based on scientific modelling that the facility could operate without adverse impacts on nearby residents,” Cr Heenan said.
“My concern is that the deadline is well and truly past and both the shire and the EPA have grave concerns that even after 29,000 cubic metres of odorous material have been removed we still have the smell emanating from this facility.
“People are still registering their complaints every week.
“Some of them are substantial, some medium to mild but as people have said, mild is still about a smell which should not be there.”
In a further move to protect the affected residents Cr Heenan said residents would be included with the shire in the VCAT action.
“There are certain people in Coldstream and Lilydale who have had more input into this particular fiasco out of their own private time than any other issue I have had anything to do with.
“Their evidence is vitally important to the whole VCAT action,” he said.
Previously, residents were cut out of the loop with just two community members having access to mediation hearings and then only under the weight of strict non-disclosure rules.
A number of the residents speaking with Cr Heenan last week said they welcomed the opportunity to be included in the process.
Cr Heenan said the EPA would take separate action under the Environment Protection Act.
The meeting will be held at the Coldstream Community Centre at 7.30pm.