Brimbank Council is extremely disappointed with the decision by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to grant approval for a large expansion of the Melbourne Regional Landfill at Ravenhall.
We’ve been fighting against this landfill expansion for almost two years now. Our community is extremely opposed to the expansion of the Ravenhall tip, as is this Council.
The VCAT decision has approved creation of an additional seven cells at the landfill. This will give the landfill capacity to operate until approximately 2036. This is particularly concerning because it doesn’t encourage the development of an environmental sustainable solution to managing waste in the medium to longer term.
Expansion of the landfill also means we could be seeing rubbish trucks travel across metropolitan Melbourne and Brimbank to the tip, impacting on our City for years to come.
Council’s legal appeal against the tip in late 2017 was on the grounds that the expansion is contrary to State Government policy, because the expansion will extend the life of the landfill and potentially divert investment from alternative forms of waste disposal and innovation.
On behalf of our community and the west, we’ve been fighting against a plan to extend a rubbish tip that already has existing problems, and which would lock the area into using obsolete and ineffective modes of waste disposal.
The tip expansion would reinforce Victoria’s reliance on landfills as a method of waste disposal over the long term which is contrary to future direction for waste management in Victoria.
Victoria needs to look to the future and find innovative sustainable alternatives to landfilling. Extending the life of the Melbourne Regional Landfill will hold Victoria back.
We’re concerned that any expansion of the Melbourne Regional Landfill will prevent alternative waste technologies from being established and available for Brimbank and other municipalities to utilise. This will hurt our communities, the West and Victoria as a whole.
Council will review details of the VCAT decision before determining its options.
