Elsie Lange
Locals have raised concerns about the safety of expanding Romsey to the east and south of the town, due to the capacity and proximity of Romsey Recycled Water Plant (RRWP), run by Greater Western Water (GWW).
Macedon Ranges council (MRSC) is developing the Romsey Structure Plan, to determine the settlement boundary of the town as it is set to grow in population by 6000-10,000 people by 2036.
A new structure plan will guide the development of the town to the year 2050.
In response to the structure plan’s draft Emerging Options Paper released in February, real estate lawyer and Monegeetta-based cattle farmer Randall Gerkens made a submission to council and said to push the south-east option was ignorant of the limitations of the sewage plant.
“Our big concern about the Romsey Options Paper and expansion of Romsey is that it will put huge pressure on the GWW Sewage Plant which is already inadequate and may put [Deep] Creek in danger of accidental overflows,” Mr Gerkens said.
He said it could damage the ecosystems of the creek as well as jeopardise surrounding farms that rely on it for their stock and domestic water supply.
GWW strategy and partnerships general manager Richard Smith said they were increasing the capacity of the RRWP to support town growth and protect the environment – but did not rule out discharging into the creek.
“We’ve listened to community feedback and the plant upgrade does not rely on discharging to Deep Creek,” Mr Smith said.
“Romsey’s fast population growth means the town is producing more wastewater than forecast.
“In extreme wet weather, we may seek [Environmental Protection Authority] Victoria approval for a controlled emergency recycled water discharge to Deep Creek to avoid damage to the plant and minimise community health and environmental impacts,” he said.
Mr Gerkens said council was not fully aware of the risks.
“It’s obvious Macedon Ranges does not have enough information about the inadequacy of the plant and what needs to be done to fix it to be sensibly proposing a major expansion of Romsey.”
MRSC Planning and Environment director Rebecca Stockfeld said the options paper acknowledged the buffer area around the plant, where the sewage is treated, would be a constraint to potential development.
“Council will consider the key issues arising from the Romsey Emerging Options Paper consultation process and further engage with Greater Western Water,” Ms Stockfeld said.
