THE man behind the Beautiful Altona blog says residents will be sacrificed if plans to treat the state’s toxic soil in the suburb go ahead.
Anthony Ang’s comments come as Hobsons Bay Council representatives met Planning Minister Matthew Guy to stress the need for a planning policy to address the location, operation and monitoring of soil treatment facilities in Victoria.
Innova is proposing to treat contaminated soil from across the state about a kilometre from Altona homes, including Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s house. About 3500 have signed a petition against the plan, with a new Facebook petition now circulating.
Mr Ang said such a plant should be built far from people’s homes. “A hazard is a hazard no matter how safe they claim to be. This facility has absolutely no benefits for Altona. I don’t subscribe to the view that Altona should suffer to benefit people in other parts of Melbourne or in this case, a particular company and probably other stakeholders.” Western Metropolitan Liberal MP Andrew Elsbury, a former Altona resident, said the proposed site was zoned heavy industrial and the EPA believed that buffers were sufficient.
“I mean, we’ve got the refinery in the area, and this facility, as I understand it, is dealing with soil that’s been contaminated with hydrocarbons.
“… the government’s had a look at what’s being proposed and amendments have been made to what’s being put there, I know that much.
“Look, the developer hasn’t got all of what they wanted, but certainly it looks … I’m not going to pre-empt the final decision on what’s going to happen down there, but certainly all of the necessary parts that the government have had a look at what’s going on there, and they’ve made their recommendations.”
Altona MP Jill Hennessy said the Liberal Party should not be interfering in planning permit processes.
Innova’s planning permit is yet to go before the council.
