Almost 100 Sunbury residents and members of the No Waste Incinerator Sunbury group descended on Spring Street on Wednesday 18 February to protest a proposed waste-to-energy (WtE) facility mooted for the town.
Supported by Western Metropolitan MP David Ettershank and Sunbury MP Josh Bull, the protesters rallied on the steps of Parliament before listening live as the upper house debated a petition calling for the project, proposed by HiQ at its Sunbury Eco-Hub site, to be stopped.
The advocacy group’s petition, which aims to halt any approval or progress towards building the facility in Sunbury until an inquiry into WtE is complete, was tabled in parliament in December.
No Waste Incinerator Sunbury spokesperson Alison Medforth said it was great to see so many people taking a stand against the project.
“It was really good to finally get our actual voices into parliament and have our concerns out there,“ she said.
Mr Ettershank, who tabled the petition, welcomed the parliamentary debate.
“Sunbury residents deserve to have clean air and a clean environment; they don’t deserve a witch’s brew of chemicals dropped over their town,” he said.
Mr Bull said he had met with both the planning minister and environment minister and has called on the planning minister in parliament to “categorically reject any planning application she may receive to build an energy-from-waste facility in [Sunbury]”.
A HiQ spokesperson said the company proposes bringing a safe, proven technology to Sunbury that will divert red bin waste from existing landfill, create new resources and provide benefits to the community.
“As part of our environmental applications, we are preparing a series of comprehensive technical assessments analysing the areas of most interest to the community,” the spokesperson said.
“These will be made publicly available for community review and input and will provide the site-specific evidence that we are confident will answer many of the questions we are receiving.”
Submissions are now open for the state government’s inquiry into the development and expansion of WtE infrastructure in Victoria.
The Legislative Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee, which is leading the inquiry, will investigate the suitability of existing WtE infrastructure plans and policies, and the impact on WtE in the community.
The committee will report back on its findings in August. Submissions are open until 27 March.
parliament.vic.gov.au/wastetoenergyinquiry
