By Violet Li
Communities around the Hallam Road Landfill say they want green space rather than another residential development in the vicinity, as the Cranbourne Golf Course hits the market as a potential housing estate.
Located near the landfill, the 70-hectare course falls in the General Residential Zone and is said to “present a viable solution to assist the Victorian Government’s aim of providing 800,000 homes over the next 10 years”, according to a media release in February this year.
A for sale billboard outside of the course says the land has the potential to deliver between 1000 and 1300 residential dwellings, de-risked from a zoning perspective.
Nearby resident Dr John Theodoridis said the community would want the course to be a reserve or just a green space.
“They’ve been promised green space countless times regarding the rehabilitation of the landfill,” he said. “It’s never been forthcoming.”
The call comes amid a proposed Buffer Area Overlay planning scheme amendment for the Hallam Road Landfill in Hampton Park.
But the issue of the amendment has been put on ice by the City of Casey until the EPA publishes its updated Separation Distance Guideline and Landfill Buffer Guideline.
The guidelines, which the council expects to be published sometime this year, could see the buffer for landfills accepting municipal putrescible waste with a tip face greater than 500 square metres increase from 500 metres to a maximum of 1500 metres. The distance may be varied to a minimum of 1000 metres if an odour risk assessment could show that an alternative buffer is acceptable.
This has led residents to question whether a larger buffer would encompass the Cranbourne Golf Course.
But the answer is not clear until the City of Casey has the chance to read the updated guidelines – when published – at which point council officers “would provide a further report to determine whether investigations should continue, and a Buffer Area Overlay Scheme amendment pursued”, according to a report published in February.
Cranbourne Country Club, which owns the golf course, was contacted for comment.
Lynbrook Residents Association spokesperson Viv Paine said the overlay would negatively impact the properties enclosed.
“When a property in the buffer zone is offered for sale the Buffer Area Overlay must be included in the Section 32 Vendor’s Statement prepared for prospective purchasers. Local estate agents predict properties thus encumbered will suffer a decline in value in the range of 10 to 20 per cent compared to nearby properties without an overlay,” he explained.
“Encumbered properties within the buffer zone are restricted from subdividing large blocks or constructing new buildings in the backyard such as a granny flat or even a shed.
“Renovations and extensions will encounter more building permit hurdles and cost more due to requirements for tight seals around windows and doors to prevent the ingress of toxic escaping gas.”
Dr Theodoridis said once the residential zone had been established around the landfill, an overlay was just adding insult to injury.
“Not only do people have to pick up the torments of that landfill, but now they have to take a financial hit on their most significant asset,” he said.
“I think it’s atrocious, to be honest.”
He believed there should be a big billboard on each sale block to remind prospective buyers of the nearby landfill.
“It’s only effective if the public is being made aware of the thing. I’ve seen billboards up about local housing developments in that immediate area saying a last chance to invest in this, but there’s no sign saying, by the way, there’s a tip just 500 metres down the road, and it’s going to hit the price of your house,” he said.
“Unless there’s community education and potential buyer education, it does nothing.”
