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Swan Valley dinosaurs kept at bay

Joel KellyThe Advocate

City of Swan council voted in favour of another deferment last Wednesday so the owner could satisfy Swan River Trust (now Department of Parks and Wildlife) requirements.

Dinosaur museum proponent Ken Robinson said it had been a long process and he was tired of the bureaucracy.

He said he now needed to pay a wastewater disposal expert to fly from Queensland to meet with DPAW about the museum’s proposed waste water system.

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“We’ve got a biocycle plant, which is supposed to be a state-of-the-art sewerage system that was approved by the Health Department but the Swan River Trust don’t seem to recognise it,” he said.

Three councillors at last Wednesday’s council meeting said dealing with Swan River Trust had become complicated since it merged with DPAW.

The proprietor and councillors said they were not able to arrange a teleconference meeting to flesh out the wastewater details.

But a spokeswoman for DPAW said staff were happy to conduct teleconference meetings with proponents and consultants if requested.

“Planning staff recently offered to meet with the applicant, their consultant and the City of Swan to discuss the application in detail,” she said.

To get the green light from the council, Mr Robinson needs to meet the wastewater requirements.

The application proposes to manage wastewater from up to 175 patrons.

DPAW said an onsite wastewater treatment system with this capacity was a significant potential source of nutrients to the Swan Canning river system.

“The proposal should demonstrate that it will not result in a new point-source of nutrients to the Jane Brook catchment,” a DPAW spokeswoman said.

The motion to defer the decision only just passed, with Mayor Mick Wainwright giving the casting vote.

Swan Valley Planning Committee indicated it did not support the application.