By ORION KELSALL

South Gippsland Shire Council has sought to reassure locals concerned about a proposed mega landfill site that would be used to dump Melbourne’s rubbish in South Gippsland.

International waste management company Veolia is seeking approval to establish the landfill site at the Whitelaws Track quarry in Leongatha South, and plans to process about 200,000 tonnes of Melbourne’s rubbish at the site annually.

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Veolia identified the Whitelaws Track quarry as the best possible site for development, after what they described as an extensive search.

Local residents concerned about the potential for water contamination and odour have set up an action group Protect South Gippsland and Facebook page DUMP the DUMP.

Some South Gippsland residents received a letter proposing the waste landfill site to operate near their houses, before the local council was even aware of the project.

Koonwarra StoreHouse owner Thomas Burge said only those living closest to the proposed site received the letter, which was shown to him by concerned residents.

“I think it was a very basic piece of paper just simply saying, very generally, this is what we are going to do. It was certainly this is what our intention is, but it did come across a little bit as a fait accompli,” Mr Burge said.

Another Koonwarra store owner, Melissa Burge, said although no one would want a rubbish tip in their backyard, there were probably better sites in Victoria that were not in a food bowl area.

“And that’s why there is so much passion from Koonwarra and its residents and the surrounding farms … is it the best place given all of these factors?” she said.

South Gippsland Shire Council CEO Tim Tamlin said the council’s role was to decide whether it was a suitable land use, but only the Environment Protection Authority could  issue a licence to operate the landfill site.

“To be able to get an EPA licence it has to be in the regional landfill strategic plan and it’s currently not in there, so there’s a lot of work to be done,” he said.

“If council receives a planning application, we might be able to progress the planning application but it would be subject to all these other conditions.”

Veolia expects 20 trucks a day to deliver rubbish to the site.

Koonwarra cooking school and bakery Milly and Romeo director Maria Stuart said the infrastructure just wasn't there to cope with so many trucks on single lane highways and local roads.

“The change in that way would be noise, trucks, less safety in our village, which just wouldn’t make it the experience that it is for some many people and their families,” she said.

The Protect South Gippsland action group argues the peaceful ambience of small towns would be ruined by noisy trucks, 10 hours a day.

It is also concerned the tip would ruin the area’s appeal as a holiday destination.

Mr Tamlin said the residents had valid concerns and council would need to look at the impact of trucks using roads not used by many trucks in the past. But he questioned the impact of the number of trucks involved.

“Twenty trucks a day, you know think if there going to operate over a 10-hour period, that’s two trucks an hour, that’s not a lot of trucks. So I don’t really know if the trucks will be that noticeable,” Mr Tamlin said.

Mr Tamlin said the council would assess all transport issues.

“I just want to reassure the community that the council will be conducting a full community engagement process once we receive the application for permit,” Mr Tamlin said.

Veolia aims to begin construction on the site as early as 2017.