A Sunbury property owner has been fined $10,175 after an Environmental Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) inspection found industrial waste was being burnt at the property.
Paul Attwell and his company Active Farming has been trucking industrial waste as well as soil into his Riddell Road, Sunbury farm.
EPA officers, responding to community reports, inspected the property in October and found industrial waste as well as evidence of the burn offs.
The EPA has also issued Active Farming with an Environmental Action Notice that requires the company to immediately cease accepting industrial waste, to immediately cease burning industrial waste and to remove all industrial waste by 30 January.
This follows the recent Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) decision on the property and its owner, following a Hume council investigation about on the ongoing activity at the property.
The council said it has been investigating concerns raised at this site for some time.
The VCAT decision saw all works ceased immediately at the property, with orders from the tribunal stating that permits will be required before new works can begin.
Council said that no works can start until plans have been approved by council, and if works commence on the land without approval, the matter will return to VCAT.
The works have seen high truck movements heading into the property for the past six months.
As reported by the Star Weekly, the truck movements along Canterbury Avenue in Sunbury heading into the property have been a disruption to residents’ lives for some time, with more than 300 trucks a day reported.
Residents had taken their concerns both to council and the EPA to stop the truck movements along Canterbury Avenue.
EPA said under the Environment Protection Act 2017 and the Infringements Act 2006, the company has the right to have the infringement notice reviewed or be considered by a court.
