A BAYSWATER concrete batching plant has been approved by the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) in a “tragic” move after more than five years of community campaigning.
An amended Ransberg proposal for Collier Road has been given conditionally approval and the City of Bayswater has 28 days to appeal the decision in Supreme Court.
The City has sought legal advice from its lawyers and can only appeal on a “question of law.”
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READ NOWThe same conditions have been applied in the approval, with a requirement for public art.
SAT declined a request for installation of a wind fence to protect neighbours Able Westchem and would not put a limit on production amounts.
This decision comes as SAT approved a mobile concrete batching plant in Bassendean on December 5 – just 1km from the Collier Road site.
Bayswater Councillor Sally Palmer said the decision was “very tragic for the City and for the community.”
“We’ve been battling this for five years,” she said.
“This group of SAT decision makers have no experience in noxious industries by allowing mass production.
“They were shown all the health, environmental, social (impacts), no proper buffering, gravitating noise, dust pollution to deny this industry here, but lacked the courage to stand up to the concrete bullies.”
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) refused to assess environmental impacts of the plant in March because the overall impact of the Ransberg proposal was “not so significant as to require assessment.”