Premier Roger Cook has just held a press conference in Kununurra where journalists have asked him about a development application to build a noxious asbestos waste dump in Mirrabooka within 70 metres of houses and 580 metres from a school.
St Andrew’s Grammar School in Dianella earlier today voiced its opposition for the proposal, which was also rejected by the City of Stirling a week ago.
“Being 580 metres from our playgrounds is a major concern,” principal Craig Monaghan told Radio 6PR.
“I’d hate to think we’re looking back 10 years down the line with health concerns of anyone in this community. Common sense needs to prevail here, it’s just not the right place to be placing that sorry of material.”
However, Cook said the final approval rests with the WA Planning Commission.
“There’s a proposal that’s been put to the WA Planning Commission, and they’ll consider that proposal in due course,” he said.
“But obviously, we understand that that may raise anxieties for the school community, and we’ll continue to make sure the WA Planning Commission takes concerns of local stakeholders into account as part of its decision-making.”
The Alexander Drive proposed depot has been flagged as “inappropriate” by the City of Stirling, who has since written to the Planning Minister John Carey and the WA Planning Commission to voice concerns the application is “incompatible with the reserve for parks and recreation within which the application site is located”.
Despite the site once being used as landfill for bricks and manufacturing, the city said in the years since, residential housing had expanded, creating a conflict.
The proposed facility would sort and segregate waste, with that unable to be recycled being landfilled. The site would include an excavation pit and dozens of trucks coming and going each day.
