ALL comments on renewing Inghams Enterprises’s feedmill licence for its Sinagra site will be taken into account, a Department of Environmental Regulation (DER) spokeswoman said.
The submission period for the application to renew the licence, which expires on October 7, was advertised last week and closes Monday, August 31.
The DER spokeswoman said Inghams’ current licence permitted them to manufacture up to 200,000 tonnes of feed a year.
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READ NOW“If granted, a new licence will allow Inghams Enterprises to continue operating an animal feed manufacturing facility subject to any conditions imposed,” she said.
“In determining the application for the Wanneroo feedmill, the comments received in submissions from third parties are considered in DER’s assessment and decision-making process.”
At Tuesday’s council meeting, Wanneroo Deputy Mayor Dot Newton encouraged the wider community to “have their say”.
“The smell and the noise from that facility affects five of our suburbs and a lot of residents so the reason I’m mentioning it tonight is I have asked the director if council could put a submission in,” she said.
“One of the things I’d like addressed is whether the planning approval allows for a fully blown 24-hour a day, seven days a week manufacturing industry which is what’s occurring there now.”
Cr Newton is calling for a one-year approval while the Wanneroo Road business looks for a “more appropriate” site to relocate.
“The town centre is spreading out, housing is coming round,” she said.
“It is holding up building more homes and businesses within the town centre; we need to infill between here and our town centre and you can’t because there’s a 500m buffer all the way round there and the land that’s owned by people, they can’t do anything with it.”
Last week, she placed notices in local letterboxes with details of where people can send their comments, urging people to air their concerns about the smell, noise or truck movements from the feedmill.
An update of a petition attesting to the odour emitted from the Inghams plant and hatchery was also included in Tuesday night’s agenda.
The petition called for licence approvals for the business only if they prepare to relocate away from the town site.
It suggested Inghams’ hatchery relocate within two years and the feedmill within five years of licence approval.
Sinagra father Macey Howarth and his family, who live near the feedmill and have submitted their comments, said the smell could be disruptive.
“Some afternoons you come home and it’s horrible, you don’t even want to be out the front,” he said.
The DER spokeswoman said the department could not consider submissions regarding Ingham’s adjacent poultry farm because it was regulated by the City.
Inghams was contacted by the Weekender but did not wish to comment on the matter. Submissions can be sent to industry.relations@der.wa.gov.au or for more, visit der.wa.gov.au.