Hello, here are the news headlines for Sunbury for week ending Friday 8 March 2024 from Sunbury Life dot AU – my name is Steve Hart.
Hi-Quality, the firm that has big plans for its Bulla-based waste management site, is to submit plans for a waste-to-energy plant to EPA Victoria for environmental approval.
The company operates an Eco-Hub at Sunbury Rd and wants to expand its operation at the 256 hectare site over the next six years.
In addition to a waste-to-energy incinerator to generate electricity, the firm wants to install a mud washing operation, build a recycling facility with annual capacity of 500,000 tonnes, expand its quarry to the south-east and north, and add a hazard waste treatment facility with a capacity of 300,000 tonnes a year.
We have reported extensively on the company’s plans, search for Hi Quality at Sunbury Life dot AU.
Sunbury councillor Jack Medcraft wants to start a campaign called ‘Dob in a Dumper’ and have the faces of fly tippers posted on Facebook.
He appeared on TV news show A Current Affair highlighting the issue of fly tipping that he says has left one housing estate looking like a dump.
“It’s out of control,” said Cllr Medcraft speaking on the Channel 9 program in Craigieburn.
He says Hume City Council has spent almost $5 million clearing dumped rubbish fro the city’s streets.
ACTUALITY
Public question time at Hume City Council brought its advisory body – the audit & risk committee (A&R) – back into the spotlight last week.
The committee made the news after a bundle of minutes from seven meetings dating back to 2022 were presented to councillors on Monday 12 February.
They were all deemed to be confidential, even though the council’s own acting manager of governance, Joel Kimber, tells Sunbury Life that only sections of the documents contained confidential information.
At a council meeting on Monday 26 February, Moria Attwater asked if the independent members of the audit and risk committee will be penalised
The council’s chief financial officer, Fadi Srour said they wouldn’t.
ACTUALITY
The Real Estate Institute of Victoria puts the median price of a home in Sunbury at $648,000 – it was $720,000 in late 2022. The industry body says Sunbury prices have dropped by 2.2% over the quarter.
Hume City Council elections may be months away, but one Goonawarra mum says she is ready to throw her hat into the ring. Kate Hamley has an eye on the new Emu Creek ward as a prospective independent candidate and is getting ready to stand in October.
She says council should take ambitious action to address housing accessibility and cost of living pressures, “…putting people and the liveability of communities at the centre of council decision making”.
ACTUALITY
Applications are now open for this year’s round of Greater Western Water’s Thriving Communities grants and sponsorship program.
The initiative has been running since 2022, offering funding to community-led groups and projects that are creating opportunities across Sunbury.
Previous recipients of grant money include the Sunbury Agricultural Society who was awarded $5,000 in 2022 to help put on its annual show.
Applications are open until Wednesday 10 April. Successful recipients will be notified by the water company in June.
Sunbury Life podcasts are available our website and where ever good podcasts are found, such as TuneIn and iTunes where you can subscribe, like, and share.
And that’s your news for this week, if you have news for us then please contact us vie Sunbury Life dot AU – because if it matters to Sunbury, it matters to us.
Have a great long weekend.
