by Violet Li
Frustration and disappointment overwhelmed Casey communities in 2023 as the Casey Council went against the public will to endorse the new Hampton Park Hill Development Plan at a meeting on Tuesday 18 July.
The Development Plan area includes the Hallam Road landfill and is bound by Ormond Road and Central Road to the north, the transmission line easement to the east, Glasscocks Road to the south, and Hallam Road/South Gippsland Highway to the west.
Served as a framework guiding land use and development proposals, the endorsed plan paved the way for the continuing operation of the current landfill, future waste and resource recovery activities, public open spaces, and light industrial activities in the designated area.
The Draft Development Plan attracted 1068 submissions in 2022 and a Community Engagement Summary Report noted that 99 per cent of the submissions objected to the draft with key areas of concern including odour hazards, truck and traffic hazards, loss of property values, landfill buffer impacts, inadequate community consultation, and Council’s previous empty commitment to restore the area to parkland.
Residents also stressed their concerns about a waste transfer station proposed at the site of Hallam Road Landfill by its operator Veolia Environmental Services Australia.
They suggested the waste transfer should be placed in a different location away from the residential areas and its future planning should consider the negative impacts the current landfill operation has on residents and mitigate them, according to the report.
The report further stated residents wanted the current landfill to shut down.
A protest assembled about 200 locals at the entrance to the Hallam Road Landfill on Saturday 12 November to oppose the draft of the Development Plan.
Despite the considerable community interest, Casey Council believed the Development Plan must be consistent with the strategic directions of the State Government as articulated in the Plan Melbourne 2017-2050, the State-wide Waste and Resource Recovery Infrastructure Plan (SWRRIP), and the Hallam Road Waste and Resource Recovery Hub Plan 2021 (Hub Plan).
SWRRIP has identified the land as one of 22 State significant Hubs for waste and resource recovery services and infrastructure.
“We acknowledge concerns, however, due to Council’s planning role in the process and needing to not conflict with State Government policy, we were unable to consider them as part of this process,” City of Casey Chair of Administrators Noelene Duff PSM said.
The Hallam Road Landfill, operated by Veolia, first started to receive waste in early 1997, accepting putrescible waste, solid inert waste, and shredded tires. It has a planning permit until 2040.
The surrounding areas around the landfill were developed for residential purposes in the early 2000s as at the time the landfill buffer was only 100 metres, which was later increased to 500 metres by The Environmental Protection Authority Victoria (EPA).
The stench from the site has been haunting the community for a decade and a resident said to Star News that Veolia did not care, and EPA took no action, therefore no ‘real, meaningful or impactful action was taken’.
EPA issued a remedial notice on 17 February 2023 to improve Veolia’s leachate management, a major contributor to the odour.
A local resident told the Star News that his family had to constantly stay inside due to the smell and he was worried that it would damage people’s long-term health.
Residents reported mental health distress because of the odour, dizziness, nausea, and being unable to enjoy being outdoors in their own homes.
Veolia has officially lodged a planning permit application to Casey Council to build a waste transfer facility at the Hallam Road Landfill site.
