As a Victorian Parliament Committee is investigating community consultation practices by the government, a community group has submitted their “serious” concerns on the alleged failures in community consultation surrounding the proposed Hampton Park Waste Transfer Station.
Lynbrook Residents Association (LRA) has traced back to the starting point of the proposed Waste Transfer Station: Hampton Park Hill Development Plan.
Star News reported before that Casey Council went against the public will to endorse the new Hampton Park Hill Development Plan at a meeting on Tuesday 18 July 2023, during the administration era.
Served as a framework guiding land use and development proposals, the endorsed plan paved the way for the continuing operation of the current landfill, future waste and resource recovery activities, public open spaces, and light industrial activities in the designated area.
Casey Council also took the endorsed Development Plan into consideration before they approved the planning permit for the proposed Waste Transfer Station last year.
LRA claimed in its submission that no “meaningful or direct” community consultation occurred during the early stages of the Development Plan planning process, despite that a relevant guidance document (Statewide Waste and Resource Recovery Infrastructure Plan 2018, SWRRIP) stressed that community consultation must occur from the beginning.
“Engagement was limited to select ‘key stakeholders’, primarily businesses, industry operators, and regulatory bodies. This omission is particularly concerning, given the known and documented history of odour complaints, health concerns, and environmental impacts stemming from activities at the site,” LRA stated.
“The exclusion of local residents from these early phases of planning is not only
inappropriate but fundamentally inconsistent with the environmental justice principles
outlined in the SWRRIP. The community should have been engaged at the outset, as part
of an inclusive planning approach.”
LRA said that the community consultation only occurred in August 2022, well after strategic planning and industry discussions had concluded, and they claimed that City of Casey officers downplayed the 1052 written oppositions, suggesting residents misunderstood the proposal.
The LRA’s submission outlines six key failures: the lack of early engagement, exclusion of residents from stakeholder lists, delayed consultation, ignored opposition, disregard for environmental justice, and failure to uphold the consultation requirements outlined in SWRRIP.
To prevent future planning failures, the group has made a series of recommendations, including mandatory early-stage consultation, transparency in stakeholder identification, documentation of how community input affects decisions, and independent oversight for high-impact developments.
When inquired, City of Casey Manager Planning and Building Tania Asper said Council followed relevant procedures in the development of the Hampton Park Hill Development Plan.
“Servicing agencies were consulted during the initial phases of preparing a draft document, a standard practice that is essential for informing the drafting of a development plan,” she said.
“Once a draft document was prepared, Council sought input and feedback from the broader community, landowners, as well as special interest groups.
“Engagement was conducted online and in-person across the engagement period.”
