Manningham Council revokes 2012 decision to stop a water treatment plant being built in Doncaster
A council in Melbourne’s east has overturned a decision it made nearly eight years ago to fight the possibility of building a water treatment plant near the Eastern Freeway. Find how why it had a change of mind.
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A water treatment plan will be built in Doncaster after Manningham Council backtracked on its 2012 decision to fight the proposal.
Councillors voted eight to one to overturn a decision made in 2012 to not let the plant be built on council land in Koonung ward, with councillor Anna Chen opposed.
It comes after Yarra Valley Water changed its preferred location for the long-mooted plant in February from Box Hill’s Eram Park to Doncaster’s Tram Road Reserve, due to plans for North East Link.
The water authority plans to build the $30 million plant underground and serve recycled water to 5000 Doncaster Hill residents, which can also be used on sports grounds.
Cr Chen urged councillors not to support the motion, which would allow the council to consult with YVW over its plans for the project at the reserve.
She cited the coronavirus outbreak and the council’s Supreme Court appeal against the progress of North East Link as reasons to not overturn the 2012 decision.
“Because of uncertainty of the outcome of juridical review and the CV-19 outbreak for our economy, we should wait until there is some certainty of these uncertainties,” Cr Chen said.
Cr Geoff Gough labelled Cr Chen’s reasons for not supporting the motion as “obtuse”.
He told the gallery the council’s judicial review had nothing to do with the concept of the water plant.
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“The council has done nothing on this topic for years … we have a commitment to that whole area (Doncaster Hill) to provide recycled water,” he said.
“I’m amazed people can put up obtuse reasons for not putting something through.”
Yarra Valley Water managing director Pat McCafferty said the organisation was looking forward to working closely with the council to progress the project.
Mr McCafferty said technical investigations at Tram Road Reserve would be finished next month and YVW would engage with the community in the project’s next steps.
A planning application for the water treatment plant is expected to be lodged next year.