Questions keep coming about Anglesea plan

THERE continues to be disquiet from some in Anglesea about what happens next at Alcoa’s mine and power station, with Monday’s Community Consultation Network (CCN) meeting becoming spirited at times.

Alcoa Anglesea site manager Warren Sharp was questioned repeatedly by the audience about the aftermath of the failed demolition of the power station building, including about asbestos and the path of the dust cloud.

All charges set on the power station detonated but Alcoa is still investigating why the power station did not topple. A second attempt at demolition will take place in four to six weeks.

Questioned on asbestos, Mr Sharp said 1,000 cubic metres of asbestos had been removed but could not guarantee there was no asbestos left in the power station – “there are no guarantees in life” – but Alcoa had gone above and beyond what was required by regulation.

He said Alcoa had installed sensors an order of magnitude more sensitive than needed, and no asbestos had been detected since the demolition.

He showed Alcoa’s plot of the path of the dust cloud but this was treated sceptically by some in the audience, who were convinced the cloud travelled further to the south, over the nearby Anglesea Primary School and towards the town.

Mr Sharp stressed that Alcoa had no intention to immediately end the bike park’s lease when it expired on June 30.

“There’s been a lot of stuff about ‘the bulldozers are going to move in’; we’re very disappointed by that”.

The community has also raised objections to the summary of feedback to the Anglesea Futures draft land use plan, released by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning on Friday.

The plan received 365 survey responses, 69 written submissions and a petition of 5,500 signatures.

The summary contains comments both for and against the plan’s various elements, but some in the Anglesea community (especially supporters of the bike park) have been calling for months for all submissions to be published to better measure the level of support (or not) for the Anglesea Futures plan.

DELWP Barwon South West regional director Colleen White said the summary was “a true reflection of the range of feedback received from those who have participated in the process”.

For more information about Anglesea Futures, including the summary of feedback, head to engage.vic.gov.au/angleseafutures.