AUSTRALIAN Native Landscapes (ANL) is on the lookout for a new site after outgrowing its current Oberon operations.
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The company’s growing pains have come to a head following an Oberon Council audit that highlighted a number of non-compliance issues, including the volumes of sawdust kept on the site.
And those issues deepened this week when councillors rejected a proposal to allow ANL to temporarily store sawdust at the Oberon Waste Landfill Facility.
Council’s decision disappointed ANL owner Patrick Soars, who yesterday confirmed he was looking for a new site.
Mr Soars said he had been in Oberon for 43 years handling millions of tonnes of residue from local factories.
He has extended his business throughout the Central West with a yard at Browns Creek and retail outlets in Bathurst and Orange.
“ANL is a valued contributor to the town – all waste products are recycled into usable products such as potting mix, mulches and so on,” he said.
“We plan to stay in Oberon to handle the waste products from the factories.
“But we have outgrown our current site and we will be looking for another site during the next two years.”
In a report to Tuesday night’s council meeting, planning and development Gary Wallace detailed the results of a recent audit of the ANL site.
The report said ANL was contracted to Highland Pine Products to remove excess sawdust from their Albion Street factory.
“Recently, planning and development staff from Oberon Council, in conjunction with the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), audited the operations of Australian Native Landscapes (ANL) and found the site development in Endeavour Street to be in non-compliance with both its Development Consent and Environmental Protection Licence (EPL),” Mr Wallace said.
“The non-compliances observed included total volumes of product on site exceed those limits within the development consent, the height of material stock piles exceeds the limitation in the SOEE, and the height of the stockpile is well above the height of the sprinklers connected to the ring main.
“Other issues included sedimentation control and sediment silt trap not in place, ongoing maintenance was to be provided to the site, including details of the proposed use of the engineering workshop which have not been provided to council, and no occupation certificate has been granted for its use.
“From the outcomes of this audit, fines have been issued on the owner (which have now been paid) and meetings with the owner have been held to seek compliance with the development consent requirements.”
Mr Wallace said ANL was not in a position to immediately adhere to all council’s requirements, and he recommended councillors allow the mayor and general manager to negotiate an agreement for ANL to temporarily utilise the waste landfill facility.
As part of the deal, ANL would have been required to carry out some minor site improvements at the facility, including grading off an area, installation of some hardstand areas and the installation of silt fencing.
But councillors rejected the proposal when it was put to the vote on Tuesday, as council was not prepared to take on the liability of ANL’s sawdust waste product.