The CEO of Bendigo says he hopes an order that Hopley Recycling pay council’s legal costs marks the end of a long-running battle between the two parties – but could not rule out further legal confrontations. 

Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal deputy president Mark Dwyer ordered Hopley pay $38,000 by June 1 to the City of Greater Bendigo to meet its VCAT expenses last Wednesday.

Mr Dwyer said Hopley’s application to extend the deadline to remove “processed materials unlawfully stockpiled” on Crown Land in White Hills “lacked merit”.

Read the full reasons for decision at the bottom of this article. 

He said the recycling company’s “ever-changing position” placed the council at a financial disadvantage and called into question the company’s commitment to clear the site. 

In the VCAT application, Hopley had initially sought to extend its deadline to remove materials from the site from 1 May 2015 to 1 June 2016, to which council conditionally agreed. 

“[However] it became apparent that Hopley was no longer seeking an extension only until 1 June 2016, but was by then seeking an extension until mid-2017, on different grounds, and on flexible terms that changed several times through the hearing,” Mr Dwyer said.

“Again, as the decision reflects, I was left in some doubt as to the seriousness of Hopley’s commitment to remove all processed material land even by then.”

Council had sought $44,949 in legal fees from Hopley, but chief executive officer Craig Niemann said the city was comfortable with VCAT’s ruling. 

“We believed it was necessary for us pursue costs... we don't take these matters lightly,” Mr Niemann said. 

“VCAT upheld that and, in the words of deputy president, we’ve acted reasonably throughout the enforcement process.”

Mr Niemann said he expected all material would be removed from the site by the June deadline so that council could rehabilitate the land. 

“Our intent is that the matter is now concluded,” he said.

“We would like to proceed with our obligation to rehabilitate the site, we’re doing testing on it and we’re having conversations with the appropriate authorities on what that rehabilitation will look like and how we go about it and also on future uses of the site.

“That will all be considered going forward, but first Hopley must remove all materials from the site so we can do all that work and complete our obligations.”

However the city CEO said he could not rule out future legal hurdles. 

“That depends on what action takes place up until the due date for material to be removed from the site,” he said. 

Mr Hopley was contacted today for comment for this article but was busy with meetings. The Bendigo Advertiser intends to run Mr Hopley’s response to the findings later in the week.