IN what has become an 11-year saga, a united front will converge on the steps of Parliament House next month when around 300 protestors to the latest Allawuna York land fill proposal will once again voice their opposition and present a petition to the state government.
The protest will be held on Wednesday August 9 at 10.30am along with the presentation of a petition by adjoining landowner Kay Davies to Agricultural Region MLC Darren West to table in the Legislative Council.
Mrs Davies’ petition outlines a number of specific concerns including leachate and contamination of the Mundaring Weir catchment area, national forest and parks, inconsistency with the Shire of York’s 2018 local planning scheme and opposition by the Mid-West joint development assessment panel, and transport of waste.
“The proposal does not align with the objectives of the Australian national waste policy and the draft Western Australia state waste infrastructure plan, and has significantly changed from the original SITA proposal that has been warehoused since 2012,” Mrs Davies said.
“This area relies entirely on surface and ground water and there are many concerns that the ground water has not been mapped in this region.’’
The petition requests the Legislative Council oppose the Great Southern Landfill and conduct an inquiry into waste management planning for the metropolitan area and risk management of the location of landfill sites in regional areas.
Mrs Davies said she put the petition together so York has another opportunity to object to the Allawuna Landfill and to hopefully get the Legislative Council to oppose the landfill and understand the amount of opposition the proposal has in the community.
“I would also like the Legislative Council to understand the consequences of their decision concerning the positioning of waste and the affects this is having on regional communities,” she said.
She has been involved in the fight against the Allawuna landfill since the proposal began in 2012 when Sita (now Suez) first proposed the landfill but later withdrew their application.
The proposal was then taken up by Alkina Holdings and is now before the Appeals Convenor, with 133 appeals being received.
The proposal has already been through three joint development assessment panels with a No vote recorded against the landfill at each sitting, with Mrs Davies speaking against the proposal in all three sittings.
Mrs Davies has also been granted intervener status during the two previous State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) proceedings with the proposal now into its third appeal at the tribunal.
Avon Valley Residents Association president Keith Schekkerman said he was hopeful a bus could be organised and encouraged residents to carpool to protest the controversial landfill proposal.
“Perth people, whose rubbish will be disposed of at the proposed landfill, have no idea what is being done in their name,’’ he said.
“While the protest might only generate a few minutes on the evening news, it will inform people about the issue and shine a spotlight on the government who can stop this crazy proposal if they want to.’’
The proposal is already opposed by the shires of York, Toodyay and Mundaring.
Another petition being compiled by the York Business Association has already gathered more than 900 signatures in opposition to the landfill proposal.
