This article was originally published on 25 November. Star Weekly is sharing it again for you to enjoy.
Sunbury’s got one big burning issue, and residents are uniting to try to stamp it out. Georgia Tacey caught up with the creator of the No Sunbury Waste Incinerator group, Alison Medforth, to hear more about how the proposed waste-to-energy facility proposed on Sunbury Road might affect the community.
Alison Medforth lives on the doorstep of Sunbury’s biggest burning issue.
The 33-year-old lives in Kingfield estate on Lancefield Road – a four-minute drive away from the proposed location of a waste-to-energy facility.
The controversial project has caused a stir in Sunbury the past few months, with waste management company HiQ proposing to build the waste-to-energy incinerator at its Sunbury Eco-Hub site, located at 570 Sunbury Road, Bulla.
While HiQ is yet to put in an application with the Environmental Protection Authority Victoria (EPA), it was granted a Waste-to-Energy Scheme cap licence by Recycling Victoria.
This licence will allow the company to accept up to 750,000 tonnes of waste per annum.
The proposed site is just metres from booming developments along Sunbury Road.
On Sunbury Road alone, multiple new estates have popped up, and a new town centre has been proposed.
Along nearby Lancefield Road, there are multiple new estates and homes popping up, and a shopping centre is currently on the way.
When Ms Medforth heard about the Sunbury proposal after seeing the protestors against the Lara proposal, she knew someone had to act – she just didn’t realise it was going to be her.
“I was thinking someone else is going to pick this up and do something, but by around April no one else had. That’s when I created the Facebook group,” she said.
Ms Medforth is the creator of the No Sunbury Waste Incinerator group, a grassroots movement that has exploded across town and beyond.
With almost 2000 members, Ms Medforth said it’s become a much bigger movement than she could ever have imagined.
“I’m overwhelmed by the support from the Sunbury community and that we can all come together and say out loud that this is not what we want,” she said.
“It’s a great showing from everyone in Sunbury that we won’t stand for this and we won’t stand to continue to be treated like this.”
The movement, through its community meetings and advocacy have united the Sunbury community, and gained the attention of local politicians and councillors.
Western Metropolitan MP David Ettershank has joined the group in campaigning against the project and called it a terrible idea.
“Sunbury was forced to take all the soil from the Westgate Tunnel and now the Allan government continues the pattern of ‘rubbishing’ Sunbury,” he said.
“This hard-working town is being called on to do too much of Melbourne’s heavy and dirty lifting. It’s a Sunbury pile-on.”
When HiQ was granted its cap licence of 750,000 tonnes, Mr Ettershank said he was shocked.
“They were looking at 450,000 tonnes of garbage to burn. Recycling Victoria gave them a licence for 750,000,” he said.
“At 450,000 tonnes, they were going to produce 220 tonnes of highly toxic ash a day.
“We asked (Hume) council how much red bin waste [the city produces] … and as I understand it, 14,000 tonnes a year. That leaves 726,000 tonnes unaccounted for.”
HiQ said in an April Q&A with the community that if approved, the proposed facility would divert waste collected from the Hume area it already receives and accept additional material from businesses and councils in the surrounding areas, potentially extending to Melbourne and up to Bendigo.
Residents are also concerned the number of truck movements along Sunbury Road will increase, with the road not equipped to handle it.
HiQ said in the Q&A that with all of the anticipated activities at the site, truck movements could be up to 800 per day, but said the waste-to-energy facility is expected to generate approximately 100 extra truck movements per day.
Hume councillors Jarrod Bell and Kate Hamley, both representing Sunbury and Bulla, also expressed concern about the truck movements, in a joint statement released in August.
In their statement, they stressed that the proposal was not a council decision, but relies with the state government.
The state government is pushing through on waste-to-energy across the state, which is worrying Sunbury residents.
A state government spokesperson said the views of the community will always be considered in proposals like this.
Currently, there are eight proposals across the state, including ones in Sunbury, Wollert and Lara, and multiple licences granted.
The state government will now investigate waste-to-energy infrastructure in Victoria, through a parliamentary inquiry that was moved in August.
Mr Ettershank remains concerned that the Sunbury facility will be approved well before the inquiry begins next year.
“HiQ’s application will go into the EPA in November, according to HiQ. Typically, as I understand it, they take about three months,” he said.
“If the EPA approves it, then that’ll go to the Department of Environment, Energy Climate Action (DEECA) and the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), and they’re legendary for fast-tracking development.
“There is every possibility that the Sunbury incinerator will be approved before the parliamentary inquiry even begins, let alone ends in its decision. That’s definitely something we wouldn’t want to see.”
But for the time being, Sunbury is playing the waiting game.
HiQ said it plans to lodge its application with the EPA by the end of 2025, with public exhibition expected in the first half of 2026.
Application outcomes will be expected in mid to late 2026, according to HiQ.
Once approved, construction will take place between late 2026 and 2029, before operations are expected to commence in 2030, when the facility will run 24-7.
But Ms Medforth stressed that no matter what, Sunbury will continue to make its stance known.
“We have to keep doing what we’re doing, which is raising community awareness and also making sure that our politicians and people in charge know that again we won’t stand for this. We are the people and we can vote them out,” she said.
“We have a strong voice, we are tired of being treated like a dumping ground, and we are going to make our voices heard and say no.”
