Council backs community calls for excess material at old tip site to be removed

6 February 2019

Kingston Council has refused permission for the owners of the former Carroll Road landfill site to keep excess material at the site, following strong community opposition.

The owners of the former tip site had applied for permission to keep 188,000 cubic metres of material at the site above what its permit conditions allowed.

The application sought to: Retrospectively alter the landfill cap height and position of the southern part of the existing solid inert waste landfill – No further landfill was proposed.

The operator had lodged an Application to Amend a Planning Permit to deal with an existing issue at the closed tip, when the operator dumped a larger amount of landfill at the site several years ago without the approval of Council or EPA Victoria. 

Following public consultation, Council received 170 community objections opposing the amendment application. In response, at its January 29 meeting, Council resolved to Refuse to Grant an Amended Planning Permit as the proposal does not comply with the Kingston Planning Scheme and is inconsistent with EPA Best Practice Environmental Management of landfills.

The applicant may consider lodging an appeal against Council’s decision with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). If an appeal is not lodged, or an appeal is unsuccessful, the excess material must be relocated to another site. 

Kingston Mayor Georgina Oxley said that removal of the 188,000 cubic metres of excess material would take many months, requiring large numbers of truck movements and potentially causing dust and odour issues.

“Council will notify impacted residents if the removal process proceeds.  While this may cause some disruption, the community was clear it wanted the operator to abide by its planning permit conditions and remove the excess material from the site.”