ORGANISERS of a protest on the steps of Parliament on Wednesday, August 9 against the Great Southern Highway landfill proposal for Allawuna Farm have declared the rally a huge success with more than 70 concerned residents attending.
Protest organiser Kay Davies said the community bus organised to ferry community members was full, with others carpooling to attend the event.
Following a display of colourful signs in protest of the landfill proposal, Mrs Davies presented a petition with 776 signatures collected over the past three weeks to Member for Agriculture Region Darren West MLC to table in Parliament.
Mrs Davies said Mr West and member for Central Wheatbelt Mia Davies MLA addressed the crowd and both agreed the landfill proposal wasn’t good.
“We have also called for an investigation into waste into regional areas – it seems like York, Toodyay, Bindoon and Chittering are being looked at as cheap and easy places to dump rubbish from the metropolitan area,” Mrs Davies said.
“We don’t want this landfill at Allawuna and we will keep fighting until the end – we are not going to give up,” she vowed.
The petition asks the state government to oppose the landfill proposal and to investigate landfills in regional areas and where they are putting them.
“The Allawuna site was chosen because the land was for sale and was the cheapest option,” Mrs Davies said.
Mia Davies MLA told Echo News that previous proponents have relocated to more appropriate sites and she urged the Minister to intervene and prevent this from going ahead.
“I was pleased to join community members on the steps of Parliament House to accept the petition of over 700 signatures demonstrating the community’s opposition to the proposed development of a tip on the doorstep of York,” she said.
“Over the last ten years the community has been consistent and persistent in their opposition.
“The government must also work on a waste management strategy for the state that doesn’t leave peri-urban communities and shires surrounding the Perth metropolitan area as the target for future landfill proposals.
“The location is inappropriate, the community has voiced it’s concerns, and the government must listen.”
Opponents of the landfill proposal include the shires of York, Toodyay and Mundaring, the York Business Association (YBA), the Avon Valley Residents Association (AVRA), and the Perth Hills Climate Change Interest Group (PHCCIG).
