By Eleanor Wilson
Frustrated residents are ramping up their objection to the waste transfer station proposed at the site of the Hallam Road Landfill.
Lynbrook resident Scott Watson has taken to fundraising platform Gofundme in a bid to produce a series of roadside banners to spread the word about the future of the tip.
As of Tuesday 18 October, the Gofundme page has raised more than $1600 for the banners, which he hopes will send a message to both residents and legislators.
The banners, which appear to be attached to residential properties, display a series of messages such as “your vote matters”, “no waste transfer facility” and “if this seat were marginal would we have waste forced on us?”.
“It’s important we let everybody know… it’s a great opportunity leading up to the State Election to get attention on the matter and make sure people consider their vote,” Mr Watson said.
“We want to put the word out there that we are angry and we need the State Government to know people aren’t going to just accept it.
“We just want to be listened to.”
The Hallam Road Landfill will be predominantly transformed into public open space once it reaches capacity within the next decade.
But controversy surrounding the site emerged earlier this year, when Casey Council released plans for the development of a waste transfer facility at the site, which would hold waste before being processed off-site.
It would also impose a 500-metre buffer on properties surrounding the waste transfer station, potentially impacting property value.
In addition to these concerns, residents say the area has dealt with unpleasant odours emanating from the site for long enough.
Mr Watson, who has lived in Lynbrook for 18 years, said he has experienced the foul odour from the landfill “periodically”.
“Lynbrook has paid the price already. We were promised parkland and instead we get 14,000 B-double trucks.”
While Mr Watson said residents opposed to the transfer station have “tried our best not to make it political”, he believes plans for the waste transfer station would not go ahead if the Narre Warren South electorate was a marginal seat.
“We talked about whether this would be happening in a marginal seat. That’s what it sort of comes down to. A lot of us are thinking no, it probably wouldn’t,” he said.
The Narre Warren South seat has been held by Labor since its inception in 2002 and is classed as a safe seat with a leading margin of 10.4 per cent at the 2018 election.
Casey Council is currently working through 1043 public submissions to its draft plan for the landfill, many of which are objections, according to City of Casey planning and building manager Duncan Turner.
“Most of these submissions have expressed concern with implications of the State Government designation of the precinct as a significant waste and resource recovery site in the State-wide Waste and Resource Recovery Implementation Plan (SWRRIP 2018),” Mr Turner said.
Council has yet to determine a council meeting date for its decision on the Hampton Park Hill Development Plan, he said.
“Council will advise submitters of the date once it has been confirmed.”
