Burnside Council abandons tip plan following community angst over ‘sham’ consultation

Burnside Council has abandoned a plan to reopen part of a local dump – closed for almost 30 years – following anger over the “sham” consultation.

Burnside Council has abandoned a plan to reopen part of a local dump – closed for almost 30 years – after residents and one of its own councillors kicked up a stink.

The council had applied to the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) in early December to reopen a section of the tip in Dashwood Gully Reserve, Beaumont, for 12 months while it redeveloped its works depot at Glenside.

Materials including concrete, asphalt and soil were proposed to be dumped at the Dashwood Rd site.

Residents were informed of the plan through a flyer just days before Christmas, angering them and local councillor Harvey Jones, who described the consultation process as “a sham”.

Cr Jones said it was “totally unreasonable” to alert residents over the busy festive period, and only after the initial application was made to the EPA.

“The council knew about it a long time ago (but) there was no consultation,” said Cr Jones, who is serving his inaugural term on the council after being elected in November.

“It’s a totally unreasonable time to tell people about it.

“It’s a bit of a joke really to have to comment over the Christmas period.”

Resident Lee Morgan, who has lived near the now-former tip since the 1970s, said the council should have consulted with residents properly before making any application to the EPA to reopen the site.

“Consultation has to be genuine,” Mr Morgan said.

“The process was flawed in the sense a decision wasn’t made by elected members.

“The Beaumont councillors were not even informed that such a proposal was being investigated. They were informed the day before residents were.”

He said it was “amazing” the council would consider opening a section of the tip in a residential area and its application was “provocative”.

The Dashwood Rd tip in Beaumont has been closed since 1990. Picture: Ben Cameron.

A second flyer was sent to residents earlier this month, advising that the council had withdrawn the application.

The council’s chief executive officer, Paul Deb, said “community sentiment” showed the plan was not “an appropriate or feasible” option in the future.

He said a new dump site was unlikely to be within the council area.

Burnside is spending $1 million to transform its Glenside works depot into a community hub, including a public garden, glasshouse, barbecue area and a men’s shed.

The council’s Linden Park plant nursery – which grows up to 10,000 plants a year for more than 100 parks in the district – will also move there.

The depot will continue to operate from part of the site.