By Charlotte Wooldridge | posted on October 15, 2020
KOJONUP residents and business-owners are celebrating this week after the immediate proposal of short-term storage bins for CBH was withdrawn after community consultation.
The two open bulkers, which were intended to be constructed near the industrial zone, would have infringed on CBH’s own self-prescribed buffer zone.
CBH General Manager Albany Zone Will Piercey said the construction of the storage facility was due to the overflow of grain in that area.
“The Kojonup site is located within the town centre and generally receives more than its storage capacity at harvest, resulting in the need for CBH to move grain out by truck during harvest to allow growers to continue to deliver at peak times,” he said.
“The construction of short-term emergency storage was intended to reduce the amount of trucks on the road during harvest as we work towards a long-term solution for the area.”
Local resident Nicole Miotti’s house is within the 400 – 500m buffer zone of the proposed storage facility and was told by medical professionals that the potential grain dust from the bulkers could have made her home unliveable.
After helping coordinate the community consult on Monday this week, Ms Miotti said she was pleased with the result.
“I had so much support from all the local businesses and a few mums from the school came as well,” she said.
“It was only about 40 to 50 people in attendance, but it was the right people. I had growers and truck drivers; it was just amazing the support.
“With that buffer zone, they haven’t tried coming that close for years and everything that was listed was probably why they haven’t tried coming so close.”
Business-owner Alan Mort echoed Ms Miotti’s concerns for the proposed location, saying the storage facility would have been well within the buffer zone from his panel beating business.
“It would have had a massive effect on us. There would have been a lot of dust, it’s less than 100m to the front of my workshop,” he said.
“I’ m very pleased with the result. They listened to what everybody had to say, and then they said we’ll withdraw our submission to the Shire.”
Ms Miotti said she was grateful to CBH for working with the community to find a solution that would benefit everyone.
“Once the CBH boys got there and they listened to everybody it was just fantastic so I must pat them on the back for coming,” she said.
“It was a really good outcome, it was the best one we could have hoped for.”
Mr Piercey said CBH would be looking into alternative locations for the storage facility.
“After listening to the community’s concerns about the proposed location, CBH has withdrawn its immediate proposal, and will work with growers and the community to identify an appropriate long-term solution,” he said.