Council’s call for help

By Bridget Brady
CASEY Council has requested to meet the State Government and discuss how it can ease the financial burden ratepayers face to cover the costs of the Brookland Greens fiasco.
Last year the council called on the government to chip in about $35 million to help with the rehabilitation costs at the Stevensons Road landfill site.
Casey’s chief executive, Mike Tyler, said about $80 million would need to be spent at the Cranbourne site after dangerous levels of methane gas caused the evacuation of some people from the estate in September 2008.
Casey mayor Lorraine Wreford said the State Government could not keep “ducking and weaving” and needed to face the issue. The council and Environment Protection Authority (EPA) were strongly criticised in the Ombudsman’s report that investigated the debacle, which was released in October.
Casey Council has maintained it relied on the expert advice of a number of parties when it dealt with the issue.
Hundreds of Brookland Greens residents have joined a class action against the council.