FEBRUARY 19, 2019 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + PROPERTY GUIDE
(Damjan Janevski)
CFA corners the market The Macedon CFA flea market is on again, with a fresh new look. Macedon CFA captain Ross Luke said the market, now in its 51st year, is one of the brigade’s major fundraisers. “It’s become a bit of a Macedon tradition over the years,” Mr Luke said. “We’ve used the funds from the flea market to [make] improvements to the station … and replace and upgrade our brigade-owned tankers and to purchase vital firefighting equipment such as breathing apparatus.” Mr Luke said the 2019 flea market will include a new twist on an old favourite – the second-hand items auction will now be a goods and services auction. “We’ve got brigade members or local businesses who have donated services and it could be things from grass cutting to car detailing … it’s a whole range of things,” he said. “We utilise a lot of the skills from the brigade members and we’ll auction that off instead. “We have food, cakes, plants … ” Mr Luke encouraged everyone to visit the market and support their local CFA. The market will be held on February 23 at the Macedon CFA, corner of Smith and Victoria streets. Stalls open at 9am and auctions begin at 10.30am. PATRICK, 1
Jessica Micallef
EPA busts recycling plant By Laura Michell Macedon Ranges council is reassuring residents that recyclable items placed in their yellow bins will continue to be processed as normal. The assurances follow an Environment Protection Authority order last week for recycling company SKM services to stop accepting waste materials at its Coolaroo and Laverton North sites. Its plants are used by councils across the state including Hume, Macedon Ranges, Brimbank, Wyndham and Hobsons Bay. About 5000 tonnes of recycling is sent to the Coolaroo and
Laverton North plants each week. The company also operates a site in Mornington. The Coolaroo recycling plant was the site of three fires in 2017, including a major blaze in July that covered parts of the northern suburbs in acrid smoke and forced Dallas residents out of their homes. The fire burned for 11 days. After the July fire, the Victorian government’s Resource Recovery Facilities Audit Taskforce inspected the Coolaroo site 47 times, and as a result the EPA issued 12 notices relating to clean-up of the site, stormwater issues and stockpile configuration. ALL NEW
EPA chief executive Cathy Wilkinson said officers recently inspected SKM’s Coolaroo and Laverton North sites and found large stockpiles of combustible materials stored without appropriate separation between stockpiles, buildings or the premises’ boundaries. She said the waste stockpiles posed a significant risk and challenge for firefighters if ignited. “EPA has determined that these stockpiles are in breach of the waste management policy that has been in place since August 2017,” Dr Wilkinson said. “As the regulator, EPA’s view is that SKM has
fallen short of meeting the requirements of the policy, which is completely unacceptable and poses a real risk to local communities.” SKM will be unable to accept waste until the EPA has confirmed the sites comply with the waste management policy. Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the government was assisting councils with contingency plans so there is no disruption to kerbside recycling collections. Macedon Ranges chief executive Margot Stork said the council was working closely with its waste contractor to ensure the SKM closure didn’t impact residents.
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