About 50 local residents attended a community information session in Jindivick on Thursday night held by the Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) on Yarra Valley Stock Removers’ plans to establish a knackery in the area.
Following the review of public submissions, EPA held the community conference under Section 20B of the Environment Protection Act 1970.
EPA received 13 submissions from 60 individual community members during its three-week public consultation period.
The conference, chaired and run by an independent facilitator, aimed to ensure EPA has a full understanding of the community's concerns of Yarra Valley Stock Removers’ proposal.
It also provided an opportunity for the community to understand the proposal and EPA's assessment process.
The independent facilitator will now produce a report detailing the key issues and making recommendations from the written submissions and the discussions at the conference.
The report, which will be made available online, will be taken into consideration by EPA as part of its assessment of the company’s Work Approval application.
Statutory timelines allow EPA up to four months to make a determination on the works approval application from the date when it was first accepted, which was 25 June, 2015.