HOBSONS Bay Council has taken the unusual step of asking Planning Minister Matthew Guy to take control of deciding whether to approve a toxic soil plant proposed at Altona.
The council last week voted to ask Mr Guy, with support from Environment Minister Ryan Smith, to establish an advisory committee to develop a statewide policy on the appropriate location and long-term operation of permanent and semi-permanent soil remediation facilities.
In doing so, councillors acknowledged they were taking a risk that Mr Guy could make a decision on the Altona plant without addressing Victoria’s “policy vacuum”. The council has rejected a proposal by Innova Soil Technology to establish a soil remediation plant at 541-583 Kororoit Creek Road.
Innova has appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, with a hearing scheduled for November.
Each year, Innova plans to treat up to 100,000 tonnes of contaminated dirt from around Victoria at Altona, and store 12,000tonnes of soil outside under tarpaulins.
Its proposed plant is 950metres from homes and within 1.5kilometres of schools and kindergartens.
The council’s planning and environment director, Peter Gaschk, said Victoria’s planning controls were “inadequate” in relation to the siting of toxic soil facilities.
“There really is a policy vacuum that should have been addressed, that hasn’t been addressed properly,” he said.
“There needs to be some proper policy framework established so that these matters are properly addressed.”
Seabrook ward councillor John Hogg said there were also issues associated with increased traffic, with Innova anticipating 140 trucks a day “to start off with”.
Mr Guy’s spokeswoman, Emily Broadbent, said yesterday that Victoria had strong planning policies for uses such as the siting of toxic soil plants.
Innova CEO John Lucas said the council’s action was “extremely disappointing”.
“There is no policy vacuum. The EPA has a clear policy on landfill avoidance and Innova provides a safe, clean, quiet solution to clean up polluted sites.”
Mr Lucas said Innova’s process had been tested in a residential area – Springvale – with no complaints and “glowing reports” from the EPA. He said it was impossible to clean up small sites like former petrol stations “in situ” because Innova’s “plant” was too large to fit on a small block.
