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<\/p>\nBy Kate Taylor<\/p>\n
It will only take a simple stroke of a pen for Labor\u2019s Planning Minister to change the current Maddingley Brown Coal Category C permit to accept PFAS contaminated soil at the Bacchus Marsh site, if MBC is successful in winning the tender.
\nIt could mean no community consultation and no involvement or authority from Moorabool Shire Council.
\nLocal Labor MPs Michaela Settle and Steve McGhie told a public meeting, held on Tuesday 25 February at the Bacchus Marsh Public Hall, that they will \u201ctake the concerns of the people to the Minister\u201d \u2013 but could offer no further information on the project.
\nSpeaking after the meeting, which attracted between 400-450 people, Moorabool Mayor David Edwards said it was good to see the local Members of Parliament in attendance but disappointing the project\u2019s proponents declined an invitation to attend.
\nAt the meeting, Cr Edwards told the crowd council is continuing to ask for information and technical reports relevant to the project, for which Transurban is now considering MBCs tender.
\n\u201cAt this point, the Minister has not called it in, making council the responsible planning authority,\u201d he told the meeting, adding that if the Planning Minister Richard Wynne calls-in the project, which he says is very likely, council would have no involvement at all.
\nAnd for residents wondering why he isn\u2019t coming out and condemning the project?
\n\u201cI\u2019m a councillor. And the most important thing a councillor has is their vote. If we go out and jump up and down and say, \u201cwe don\u2019t want this in our community\u201d then we can\u2019t vote on it if it does come before council, because we would have a pre-determined position.\u201d
\nHowever, Member for Western Victoria Beverley McArthur spoke at the meeting to vent her full opposition to the project.
\nShe noted the soil from the West Gate Tunnel project is contaminated with PFAS chemicals, the same chemicals that led to the closure of Western Victoria\u2019s CFA training college in Fiskville, near Ballan, in 2015.
\n\u201cIt is extraordinary that any contract would have been signed without proper recognition of what was going to happen to the contaminated soil that was known to exist,\u201d she told the meeting.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s appalling that we could have a situation where water could be contaminated. This is a famous and vitally important food bowl that feeds the people of Melbourne and beyond.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s very poor form that Transurban couldn\u2019t turn up tonight. Having a pop-up shop somewhere on a street is no substitute for being here and answering your questions,\u201d she said in regard to the lack of community consultation.<\/p>\n
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SIDEBAR: Q&A<\/strong><\/p>\n The public meeting was organised by members of the Bacchus Marsh Community Coalition. By Kate Taylor It will only take a simple stroke of a pen for Labor\u2019s Planning Minister to change the current Maddingley Brown Coal Category C permit to accept PFAS contaminated soil at the Bacchus Marsh site, if MBC is successful in winning the tender. It could mean no community consultation and no involvement or […]<\/p>\n
\nAt Tuesday night\u2019s meeting, members of the crowd had questions and concerns about the impact of a potential toxic soil dump \u2013 on the Parwan Creek and Werribee River, which support the town\u2019s market gardens, about the damage to local roads from trucks carting the soil to and from the site, as well as the effect on local fauna.
\nBut no new information or reports have been made available to anyone.
\n\u201cWhile Council has today received written answers to questions, it\u2019s important for the sake of transparency that the technical reports be made available to us so they can be properly scrutinised. Without this, it\u2019s difficult to see how our community can have any confidence in the process moving forward,\u201d Cr David Edwards said.
\n\u201cMost importantly, Transurban and the West Gate Tunnel Project must show that this project is safe, and they must detail exactly how this project will benefit our local community.\u201d
\nCr Edwards said the questions council had asked had been about environmental safety, community safety, risk assessment, economic impact on the town, cost benefit to the community, contamination levels and when the community consultation will occur, along with the availability of all the technical reports.
\n\u201cThe answers were a reiteration of the briefings we received but they didn\u2019t contain any technical documentation,\u201d he told the Moorabool News.
\n\u201cThey had a general attempt at answering some of the questions in a manner that didn\u2019t involve any technical information,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"