More than 80 people registered for last night’s Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) Longwarry Saleyards online 20B community conference.
EPA received a Works Approval application from Longwarry Saleyards Pty Ltd seeking approval to construct a facility for receiving and selling cattle.
The proposed saleyard will have a throughput of up to 132,000 head per annum, comprising:
• 120,000 cattle; and
• 12,000 bobby calves
The site will host approximately of 146 sales per annum on a monthly basis. Sales will be on Mondays and Tuesdays, every second Thursday and the first and second Friday of the month.
“Normally we hold a community meeting, a 20B, to give people a chance to discuss the matters that concern them about the project, to hear from the proponent and from EPA about the Works Approval process,” said EPA’s Manager Development Assessments Steve Adamthwaite.
“As we could not hold a face to face conference under current circumstances, we used, for the first time ever, an online forum to ensure people can have their say. The response to the format and the technology seemed generally positive though of course, everyone’s preference is to be available in person.”
The conference followed a public submissions process and a report from the independent chair of the conference will be prepared and made available at engage.vic.gov.au in a few weeks’ time.
