Doncaster Water Treament Plant – Basis of Trust.
This update in from Ming, although the topic has gone quiet lately, the issue is far from over…
Two “core” assurances given by Yarra Valley Water and the Council are the guarantee our residents must make them fully accountable to and legally binding.
Assurance #1: No impact on residents health & environment; Please!
One of the sewerage pipes owned and maintained by Yarra Valley Water run along the easement of our
property. Due to years of little (or any) maintenance, visible leaks appeared in our beautiful garden
from August/Sept 2011. It could leak long time ago just that it is invisible from the surface. It took us more than 2 months to finally get someone to “take a look”. Now into Feb 2012, the affected flowers are long gone and lawn is damaged, nothing has been fixed although we were told there is a “confirmed” plan to repair it. When Yarra Valley Water (with the approval from this council) assure residents in writing last year that this proposed sewerage plant will be a “no smells, no noise, no environmental and minimal visual impact” construction, we have the right to demand an insurance policy to cover the adverse impact on our wellbeing, including the possible exposure and suffering from the “smells” and “noise”, and any consequential property damage. (see picture below)
Assurance #2: No impact on the value of properties nearby; Really?
I am sure every one of us would be wishful to take this assurance (in writing actually so it is legally
binding) on its face value. But whoever gave them the advice must know little about real estate. It becomes very common these days (more so in the future) that people search houses online with many set criteria (rules of inclusion and exclusion), e.g. how far from a school, hospital? In case you haven’t seen the “exclusion”, you can tick many things like mobile tower, waste disposal, and yes, definitely SEWERAGE PLANT. Add these exclusions with a set kilometre radius, the impact on our house value will be very significant and far reaching right across the entire municipality.
If we allow this plant to go ahead, such a precedence will definitely lead to many more sewerage plants being built dotted everywhere. The only way we can stop this nightmare from happening is for our residents to unite as one. We must hold both organisations legally and financially responsible for their action, for the sake of protecting ourselves today, and these of our future generations.
You can see our previous article here
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We have received notification that Yarra Valley Water have submitted their plans to Council – Application PL12/022631 refers and is described as “Use and development of the land for Doncaster Hill Recycled Water Treatment Plant including associated native vegetation removal” at Tram Rd reserve.
We will need as many people as possible to submit objections to this totally inappropriate development.