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RESIDENTS have voiced their dissatisfaction with a mining company’s efforts to consult with the community as part of its plans to rehabilitate evaporation ponds.
GBM Gold organised two sessions to provide information on the company’s plans and give residents an opportunity to provide feedback to consultants, one held Friday afternoon and the other to be held Saturday morning.
But Woodvale resident Vanessa Richardson said these events were pointless when the community had not seen the company’s closure plan for the ponds, which had collected groundwater from mines.
“We basically, as residents, think it’s a waste of time at this stage, because we haven’t been given any involvement in the closure plan,” Ms Richardson said.
Ms Richardson, who is also on the mine’s Environmental Review Committee, has also questioned why the company had not opted for a meeting in which residents could ask questions of GBM Gold face-to-face.
But a spokesman for GBM Gold said this week’s consultation events were part of the company’s efforts to provide a high level of transparency on what was happening and how it would achieve the rehabilitation deadline of May 2018.
“(GBM Gold) would certainly be taking any community concerns on board,” he said.
The spokesman added that the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources would be able to release information from the closure plan to the public.
Ian Magee, an Environmental Review Committee community representative, said GBM Gold had failed to produce a closure plan for the rehabilitation of the ponds by the deadline of December 16 and had had “three or four” plans knocked back for being inadequate.
But the spokesman said a closure plan had been provided to the government on the deadline date of December 16 last year and he understood it to be the only plan that was submitted.
Last week a spokesman told the Bendigo Advertiser that the company was on track to rehabilitate the evaporation ponds by May 2018.
Ms Richardson and Mr Magee said in particular it was the presence of dust containing toxic arsenic that could be blown across not only Woodvale, but south into Bendigo, that raised significant concerns.
Saturday’s consultation session will be held at Woodvale Public Hall from 9.30am to 12pm.