Waste facility owners vow to listen to neighbours amid investigation over late night noise

NEW owners of a South Strathfield waste facility under investigation for noncompliance say the business is turning a new leaf.

Residents in Chisham St, South Strathfield are calling on the local council to crack down on noise and dust spilling from a nearby industrial estate. Picture: Craig Wilson

NEW owners of a South Strathfield waste facility under investigation for noncompliance say the business is turning a new leaf.

Strathfield Council is investigation the Aussie Skips over claims the business has been operating outside approved hours of consent and failing to limit dust spilling into nearby homes.

Residents say in the last 12 months noise from the nearby industrial site has increased, with sounds of reversing trucks and operating machines running from dawn to late at night.

But Aussie Skips’ new managing director Emmanuel Roussakis – who took over the site last Monday – say they were not aware of the residents’ concerns or the investigation.

“We’ve only taken over the business as of November 14 and we have no knowledge of what problems residents of the council had prior to that,” he said.

According to approvals granted to Aussie Skips in 2000, the business must limit work to 6am-6pm Monday to Saturday.

Under the new ownership, Mr Roussakis said operating hours would reduce to 7am-4.30pm Monday to Friday and 7am-2pm on Saturday.

“We’re making a lot of changes in the next 3-6 months and we’re looking to increase productivity and achieve more during the day,” he said.

“At the end of the day the industrial area has been here for years and someone living close to it should anticipate some level of noise.”

The change of ownership comes after the Environmental Protection Agency fined Aussie Skips in May and November for breaches of its licence, including processing excessive amounts of building material.

The business was also found to have been illegally operating on council-owned land.

Speaking at last week’s council meeting, residents called for increased surveillance, a review of operating hours for noisy industry and noise mitigation measures.

Some residents called for the land be rezoned in line with the Parramatta Road Urban Transformation Strategy.

Mayor Andrew Soulos, however, rejected this suggestion saying “Sydney needs its industrial land for jobs”, adding “there were other ways the council can make them comply.”

A council spokeswoman said the matters would be assessed after an investigation.

“Council has initiated inspections of the site to identify resident concerns. This matter is ongoing,” the spokeswoman said.

“Any breaches of the approval and associated conditions can be pursued by council. That includes noise and dust matters.”

Mr Roussakis said his “door was open” and was happy to meet with residents to discuss their concerns.