”Eyesore” improvement plan approved

A LANDSCAPE plan to improve the visual amenity and reduce the dust from the former South Geelong Landfill site is finalised, with grass and native plants to transform the area.

The City of Greater Geelong developed a draft plan and encouraged the community to provide feedback to proposal, which included stormwater management, dust control and weed management solutions.

The city’s Have Your Say website for the draft Landscape Plan received 70 visits and two submissions supporting the proposed landscape plan were received.

Cr Eddie Kontelj said area subject to the landscape plan covered 15 hectares of the 158-hectare former landfill site.

The site between the Geelong Racecourse and the Barwon River, was used as a rubbish tip from about 1945 to 1990.

Cr Kontelj said the community would be familiar with the site, which could be seen clearly from Barwon Terrace and Breakwater Road and was often used for illegal candidate signs before elections.

He said the works to minimise dust and improve the visual amenity would be “cleaning up a bit of an eyesore”.

Cr Sarah Mansfield said she had heard from local residents during her previous term in council about the visual impact and the significant amount of dust coming from the site.

She said an earlier plan to plant vegetation to address issues wasn’t going to work because of the degree of slope but she was confident this plan would work in practice.

Cr Kontelj said the project involved spending $20,000 each year over three years.

A new perimeter fence with shade cloth and dirt mounds is in construction, and as sections are completed, they will be reseeded as grass to reduce dust.

The outside edge of the mound will then be mulched and planted with drought tolerant indigenous trees and grasses to screen views into the site.

Fencing will be progressively extended to Hede Street and along Barwon Terrace over the next few years.