Lara community maintains fight against incinerator

LARA residents continue to oppose the waste-to-energy facility proposed for the town, protesting at the latest recent series of community engagement sessions about the project.

Five community Q&A sessions were held by Prospect Hill International (PHI) at the Lara Golf Club on Wednesday last week between 12-7pm, with protestors present from 11am.

Charles Street, president of the No Waste Incinerators in Lara & Greater Geelong group, thanked the golf club for allowing the “expression of community sentiment”.

“Whilst the protests were not noisy, the Elcho Road traffic certainly was, with frequent honking of horns in encouragement,” he said.

“We understand that this honking was quite intrusive to the Q&A sessions.”

Mr Street said the local community, many of whom are concerned about the safety and environmental impacts of the waste-to-energy facility, remained unsatisfied with the answers provided by PHI about the project.

“The feedback we received from those who attended was that they were disappointed that there were no PHI personnel present.

“We were also informed that the answers from the consultants did not allay the major community concerns.

“Many questions were unanswered or taken on notice. We found this surprising since the problems and questions about the Lara big incinerator project have been well-documented over the past three years.”

PHI defended its use of consultants at the community engagement sessions, stating consultants were better suited to provide information to those in attendance.

“From our experience at past community engagement events for the project since 2020, Prospect Hill International anticipated most of the questions asked by community members would relate to the technical assessments produced by the consultants or technical aspects of energy-to-waste facilities,” a spokesperson for the company said.

“The project is supported by highly experienced technical experts, and they are best placed to attend the sessions and provide a response.”

The spokesperson said that of the 238 questions asked by the 27 individuals who attended the community engagement sessions, only seven were taken on notice.

“The questions taken on notice related to highly specific datasets or intricate details.

“While Prospect Hill understands immediate answers are valuable for reducing community concerns, accuracy is equally important.

“At times it is best to take a question on notice to ensure it is answered correctly.”

The spokesperson confirmed future community consultations sessions were on the cards “to ensure the community is kept informed” and encouraged residents to contact the PHI via its email address or phone number with any questions.

PHI proposes to incinerate up to 400,000 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill annually and produce enough energy to power up to 50,000 homes at the facility, which was granted a development licence by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in December last year.

Mr Street said local opponents to the facility were calling on Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny to “as quickly as possible” refuse to issue a planning permit for the facility.

“The protesting was all in good humour, but our group condemns the EPA for issuing a development licence for the Lara big incinerator.

“[It’s] completely inappropriate and unfathomable in our view.

“There needs to be a formal inquiry as to how the licence was granted.”

This article has been updated. A previous version incorrectly stated the waste-to-energy facility proposed for Lara would generate electricity to power up to 500,000 homes.