Access for cement company

By Shaun Inguanzo
A DANDENONG cement company has resolved planning issues with VicUrban after a road closure and realignment threatened to deny its trucks proper access to its site.
But a local councillor believes Blue Circle Southern Cement’s proximity to residential developments could create environmental issues and inevitably force the company to relocate.
Management at Blue Circle Southern Cement’s packaging plant in Dandenong South was last month worried truck access would disappear with Cheltenham Road’s realignment and part of Brighton Road’s closure.
Both the realignment and closure, further north towards the railway line, will make room for next stage of the Metro 3175 developments – VicUrban’s residential estate under the Revitalising Central Dandenong project.
A source at Blue Circle’s Dandenong plant confirmed the company had been in discussions with VicUrban over pending problems.
It followed Dandenong North Ward councillor John Kelly’s public concerns at the 28 August council meeting, when he said the realignment was now 10 metres closer to the Blue Circle factory than originally planned and which could box in the factory and affect truck access.
This week Cr Kelly said Blue Circle and VicUrban had met to resolve the issues regarding access, and both parties were “happy little Vegemites”.
But he criticised VicUrban’s failure to acquire the property, and said he felt it to be inevitable that Blue Circle would one day relocate due to its proximity to the residential area.
“To be up front, it was one of the first properties VicUrban should have purchased,” he said.
“It is the sort of industry that makes dust and cement and I thought it would have been one of the first purchases.
“I can’t tell the future, but I feel Blue Circle will eventually move on – it might be a good expansion for the new Grenda site.”
VicUrban senior project officer Fiona de Prue said VicUrban was not worried about the factory’s dust and noise affecting Metro 3175 properties because Blue Circle was complying with Environment Protection Authority standards.