West Belconnen residents have called for the ACT Government to stop its plans to build a temporary green waste facility in Stockdill Drive, claiming it will increase traffic in already busy streets, pose a bushfire threat, and make the suburbs stink.

Thirty residents on Drake Brockman Drive in Holt and Higgins, sent a petition to the Environment, Planning, and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD) last week urging them to reject the proposal.

“West Belconnen residents are fed up with having their quality of life impacted because the ACT Government sees it as a low socio-economic area of no importance and a dumping ground for government problems,” Jennifer Gibson, the lead petitioner, said.

“We are now in a situation where the proposed relocation [of the green waste facility] is outside the Riverview Development in a designated fire zone with traffic and odour set to add stress to and decrease the quality of life further for Drake Brockman Drive residents and West Belconnen suburbs.”

The current green waste drop-off facility, in Parkwood Road, Holt, will be relocated so Ginninderry (a joint venture between Riverview Developments and the ACT Government’s Suburban Land Agency) can decommission and reuse the West Belconnen Resource Management Centre. Canberra Sand and Gravel, the facility’s operators, have applied to establish a new temporary location to continue serving the Belconnen district.

Transport Canberra and City Services identified Block 1582 in Stockdill Drive, Belconnen, 3 km from the existing facility, as the most appropriate location for the relocated green waste facility. The application also covers Block 1466, as a section of it forms part of the larger 1582 block and will be impacted by the realigned entrance for the site.

The ACT Government stated that the site offered the ability to establish a long-term solution for processing green waste, and a landscaping supply business could share the site.

“[It] will offer great access to the residents of Belconnen and North Canberra,” the government said.

But many locals did not agree: 38 of 54 submissions opposed the proposal. Nor did the ACT’s Planning Authority. It rejected the Development Application that Planit Strategic submitted in May 2022, stating that it needed additional information about traffic, bushfire, and utility management, and should clarify how the proposal was consistent with the Territory Plan.

• Will Belconnen’s green waste facility go ahead? (16 September 2022)

Planit Strategic resubmitted the DA in December. After a public notification period (16 January to 6 February), it is now under assessment.

But residents remain concerned about traffic, bushfires, and odours.

Is it temporary?

The residents believe Block 1466 will be a permanent site with permanent structures.

“The ACT Government has been deliberately misleading in stating this as a ‘temporary’ green waste facility site,” Ms Gibson said.

Ms Gibson asked the government to fully disclose any plans for the green waste facility; their plans for a permanent site; the date of the permanent site opening; and where the permanent site will be located.

The residents are also concerned that the ACT Government, now it owns most of the land in Central Molonglo, will move the Mitchell Tip to Block 1466/1582 Stockdill Drive, which would consolidate the green field space as a rubbish zone.

The ACT Government believes that Block 1582 will be an excellent waste site. A feasibility study into upgrades to the Mitchell Resource Management Centre and future waste sites in north Canberra stated that Block 1582 had the lowest ecological, heritage, and environmental risk to establish a resource management facility. It noted, however, that putting a tip on the site could be an eyesore: “Its prominent location within the surrounding landscape would have a significant impact on local visual amenity.” Nevertheless: “Maximising green waste disposal on this site may alleviate the need for such a facility on the Mitchell site, allowing for implementation of a two-site model or potential medium-term colocation.”

The ACT Government stated that the block’s use for a green waste facility is currently a temporary proposal. However, Block 1582 will be a permanent site for ACT Government use.

“This could mean in the future it is the site for a municipal depot or another use which would require further development applications.”

Traffic problems

The residents predict the facility will add significantly to traffic problems in Drake Brockman Drive. Since development at Ginninderry began, the petitioners say, traffic increased by 3,456 (73 per cent), while peak hour traffic has lengthened since 2017 to the point that many residents wait five minutes to reverse out of their driveways. They estimate that traffic to the green waste facility will bring another 50 trucks and 660 cars, most of which will use Drake Brockman Drive.

“I cannot think of any other road in Canberra with residents that has been and will continue to bear the brunt of so much change to traffic,” Ms Gibson said.

“If Drake Brockman Drive is to be treated as purely an arterial road, then why were houses allowed to be developed fronting it? An extra 710 vehicles matters because this change will be immediate, and, as Canberra grows, so will green waste traffic on our road … long before any money is spent by government or [the] Riverview Group on Drake Brockman Drive infrastructure.”

Green waste traffic numbers will be most significant on Saturdays and Sundays, disrupting ‘quiet’ traffic days, the petition claims. Residents complain that traffic noise is already unbearable, Ms Gibson noted: traffic noise is constant from 5.30am to 10pm, and locals cannot open their windows.

The ACT Government believes, however, that extra traffic can be accommodated on the current road network immediately surrounding the proposed facility, including Stockdill Drive and Pro Hart Avenue.

“Typically, traffic to green waste facilities does not coincide with peak commute times and therefore is not expected to contribute to increased traffic congestion,” the government stated.

No commercial green waste is accepted at the facility, and as such, the government expects most vehicles accessing the site will be light vehicles (Belconnen and Ginninderry residents dropping off green waste).

“The traffic noise which would be caused by the facility is only a fraction of the noise generated by traffic travelling on these main roads,” the government states.

The submission describes Drake Brockman Drive as a fast, dangerous road for residents, cyclists, and walkers; entering and exiting properties and T-intersections are dangerous.

The new proposal will change the priority at the Spofforth Street / Pro Hart Avenue / Drake Brockman Drive intersection, giving priority to traffic travelling along Pro Hart Avenue and Drake Brockman Drive.

In Ms Gibson’s view, this means vehicles will travel at greater speed through the intersection, endangering residents living nearby.

“With this intersection design, vehicles will now be able to continue on at speed for the whole length of Drake Brockman Drive should they wish, endangering all road users.”

Bushfire risk

The residents’ submission considers the green waste facility a potential fire risk, because it is within a designated ‘Bushfire Prone Area’; contains highly flammable materials; and is close to residents on Drake Brockman Drive, the Ginninderry development, and West Belconnen suburbs.

The site is surrounded by grasslands and susceptible to frequent hot, dry, strong winds, the petition notes.

Several times in the past 20 years, firefighters have extinguished fires caused by overheating mulch piles at the Canberra Sand and Gravel Parkwood site, Ms Gibson said. She expects this to worsen as climate change increases bushfire activity and unpredictability.

The ACT Government stated that protection on-site will include asset protection zones; site access specifications (vertical clearances, road widths, and capacity); a 20,000-litre static water supply for firefighting purposes; separation distances between stockpiles on site; and operational restrictions on access and operations on days of catastrophic fire danger.

Odours

The residents are concerned that the smell of composting and manures will be noticeable in Ginninderry and surrounding suburbs; they believe the stench will affect residents’ health and wellbeing, including stress and quality of life.

“With frequent hot, dry, and strong winds, basically, our suburbs will stink,” Ms Gibson said.

The ACT Government responded that the facility will have a negligible impact on surrounding areas. The facility is located more than one kilometre from residential areas: the proposed green waste site is about 1350 m from the nearest existing house in Strathnairn. This is consistent with the ACT Government’s separation distance guidelines, and will exceed all requirements under the EPA Act, the government states. The ACT Government’s separation distance guidelines do not include separation distance recommendations for temporary use of the land; however, it recommends a 1,000-metre separation is recommended for permanent facilities that include composting.

The site will principally be used to collect, mulch, and resell green waste, the government stated. However, some composting will occur, because green waste composts as soon as it is stockpiled. The Environment Protection Authority will require the facility to hold an Environmental Authorisation to associated with composting, including controlling odours.