KINGSTON Council last week reaffirmed its move to push the Alex Fraser Group from their Clarinda recycling site by refusing a second application to extend their permit to operate.
The recycler’s permit is valid until December 2023. They had hoped to extend it until 2038, but had that move rejected by council (“Council agrees to take out the trash”, The News, 27/11/19).
After the group’s first application was rejected in November, Alex Fraser Group put out a news release calling on the state government to step in.
“If the Victorian government allows the Clarinda recycling facility to be shut down by Kingston City Council, it will be disastrous for the state’s recycling capacity, and for Victoria’s infrastructure program,” Alex Fraser managing director Peter Murphy said.
“If the Clarinda recycling facility is shut down, one million tonnes of recyclable material could go to landfill instead every year. Kerbside recycling will be further disrupted, with recyclable glass again going to stockpile or landfill.
“This decision by Kingston City Council will also cut off the supply of construction materials urgently needed for Victoria’s Big Build, driving up costs, increasing trucks on south-eastern roads, and blowing out construction timelines of major projects. A major metropolitan quarry would need to be established to counter the material shortfall.”
The mayor Georgina Oxley said “Kingston’s residents have made it clear that they feel they have put up with the waste industry located on their doorstep in the Kingston Green Wedge for far too long.”
“Alex Fraser has known for four years they would need to find a new location, and the Victorian Government has been working with them to find alternatives. They still have another four years to find a suitable site that will ensure both the company’s long-term success and an end to waste-related activities in the Green Wedge,” she said.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 18 December 2019
