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Legal advice on our side: WA Limestone concrete batching plant

Lauren PilatEastern Reporter

Approvals and environment manager Roger Stephens said City of Bayswater officers and technical experts agreed the design changes should be approved.

“The ongoing legal action is being driven solely by the city’s councillors who continue to go against the advice of their own qualified staff, consultants and legal representatives,” Mr Stephens said.

“The site is approved for a concrete batching plant.

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“Council meeting minutes show their own lawyers have advised that if the city persists with legal action, they will likely be liable for damages and costs to WA Premix.

“This is not an outcome that WA Premix would prefer, however the company has suffered significant financial losses as a result of the councillors’ actions that must be addressed.”

Mr Stephens said buffer zones were a generic planning tool to provide guidance on the level of assessment required for proposals and did not specify mandatory minimum separation distances.

“The distance to the nearest residence will be approximately 250m, which is measured from the boundary of the closest residence to the closest point of the plant, as per the buffer guidelines,” he said.

“The design changes the city is trying to prevent, will move the plant 50m further away from the residential area compared with the existing approved design.

“There are more than 30 concrete batching plants currently operating in WA with lesser buffer distances than WA Premix is proposing, some as close as 30m.

“The fact that these plants continue to operate without incident or impact demonstrates that our proposal is sound.”

WA Premix is not a subsidiary of WA Limestone, but both companies share common directors and management.