By Jeremy Sollars
The Southern Downs Regional Council will examine a report at its February meeting from council officers into non-compliance with operating conditions by Allora’s GrainX grain handling operation.
Allora residents remain furious at what they claim is open flouting by GrainX of its approval conditions, including requirements for mature tree-planting along its South and Herbert street frontages.
They are also demanding that the results of air and noise monitoring privately commissioned by GrainX under instruction from the council be made public.
As the Free Times reported last December, Herbert Street residents directly across from GrainX have been made virtual prisoners within their homes due primarily to dust from the site.
But it is clear that the destruction of quality of life for Allora residents is not confined to that street alone, with many other locals – some on the other side of town – reporting similar problems with the dust, which contains chemical residue in the form of methyl bromide, used as a pesticide in grain storages.
Residents have reported a range of health issues, including breathing difficulties and throat and skin irritation – and they are also concerned about the dust and residue entering their rainwater supplies.
Noise from the 24-7 operation and from the trucks entering and leaving the site have also helped to turn their lives into what they have described as “a living hell”.
A key issue remains the lack of mature tree plantings around the GrainX site to help act as a visual and dust buffer.
A council spokeswoman said GrainX had advised the council that trees they originally planted were “stolen or poisoned” and are being replaced, but the “replacements” are little more than sticks.
“A Landscaping Plan was submitted to and approved by council,” the spokeswoman told the Free Times this week.
“The operator of the site has reported that some of the plants were stolen or poisoned.
“Council has requested that the operator undertake a higher degree of landscaping and this has been agreed to by the operator of the site subject to the appropriate advanced trees being available.
“GrainX met the original conditions of the Development Approval, as per the Landscaping Plan.
“GrainX are now replacing trees that have been stolen, not maintained or poisoned.
“GrainX have indicated that they will deliver a higher level of landscaping than was envisaged in the original Landscape Plan.
“Council has indicated that it is not satisfied with the current standard of landscaping or the most recent additional plantings.
“Council has received a commitment from GrainX that, subject to advanced trees of the correct species and genus being available, this will be carried out.”
The spokeswoman said the council had “recently received data from the noise and dust monitors that have been installed near the site”.
“The results of the noise and dust monitoring will be examined and a report prepared for the February council meeting,” she said.
“Council has now engaged legal services with a view to undertake legal action in the case(s) of non-compliance.
“The noise and dust results will also be provided to council’s legal advisors.”
(SUBHEAD)
Meeting scrapped, GrainX staff abuse locals
The council had arranged a meeting with Allora residents and Mayor Tracy Dobie, CEO David Keenan and senior council officers handling the GrainX case, which had been set down for last Friday, February 3, at the Allora Library.
But the council called off the meeting after residents asked the Free Times to attend the meeting, claiming it would be in breach of its media policy if it did not open the meeting to other local media outlets.
The Free Times has also learnt elderly Herbert Street residents were verbally abused last week by GrainX employers while the residents were taking photographs of the current “tree plantings”.
The Free Times has attempted on numerous occasions since December to seek comment from GrainX CEO Chris Hood, but he has failed to respond to phone calls and email requests.
Trapped in home, rainwater concern
For Allora’s Ann Lawson, the dust from the GrainX operation in ‘The Best Little Town on the Downs’ has helped to make her literally a prisoner in her own home.
While other locals can get in the car and go for a drive to escape the dust which blankets the town on a daily basis, Ann is unable to leave her home as she requires oxygen support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Ann lives on Jubb Street which is on the northern edge of Allora – right across the other side of town from GrainX to the south.
While she does not hold GrainX solely responsible for her condition, Ann is adamant that her severe asthma has prematurely worsened since GrainX began operating two years ago.
“I’ve only gone right down in the last two years,” she told the Free Times.
“I’ve never experienced asthma like I do now.
“The dust is absolutely everywhere – I had a girlfriend here not long ago and she spilled a drink and had to wipe the table down three times.
“Everything is covered in it – a fine film of dust – and when the wind comes up it comes straight in through the screens.
“It was never a problem in the past (on that site) before GrainX came in.
“There’s even more in summer when the wind comes up from the south-east and the trucks stir it up as well.
“It’s not just affecting one street – it’s got to be affecting the entire town.”
Darling Street resident Kerry Denny is one of many who are forced to keep windows and doors closed and have the air-con operating 24-7 – and likewise like many others she worries about contamination of her rainwater from the GrainX dust.
“You do wonder about the tank water – like most people here I filter mine thoroughly but there’s just so much of it and it’s so constant,” she said.
“There’s also the effect on people with asthma and other breathing difficulties.
“We are also concerned about the routes the trucks are taking through town, and if they are using the approved routes.
“There is a safety concern there as well as the noise and disruption.”
