Bathurst Regional Council has moved to put on the public record which lots in the village of Sunny Corner have been found to have contamination.
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More than a century of mining in the area has left its mark on the landscape, above and below the ground.
A report tabled at council’s latest policy committee meeting said there had been contamination concerns in and around the village for many years.
“In 2003, community concerns over the possibility of heavy metal contamination on residential lots in the village and surrounds resulted in the Premier’s Department awarding a grant of $50,000 to the community for soil testing on residential lots,” Council’s director of environmental, planning and building services David Shaw said in a report.
“The former Evans Shire Council agreed to co-ordinate the testing on behalf of the community.
“In mid-2007, council representatives met with the residents and landowners in Sunny Corner to seek feedback on whether the community wished to implement the project for testing of land in the area.
“From the meeting, all residents were asked to complete a feedback sheet determining whether or not they wished to participate in the investigations.
“The grant from the Premier’s Department required that the community reach a consensus on the implementation of the project.”
Mr Shaw’s report said feedback was also sought from the Depart-ment of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) regarding the implementation and results of the project.
“Twenty-eight landholders agreed to participate in the project. In mid-2008, council engaged Barnson Pty Ltd to undertake the soil testing project,” Mr Shaw said.
“Over several months, a preliminary site investigation was undertaken on each participating property in accordance with the DECC guidelines. In December 2008, each landowner received a report detailing the results for their property.”
As a result of the investigations, council sought advice from its solicitors in regard to the status of the notation on the planning certificates.
It will now move to place the draft Sunny Corner – Land Policy on public exhibition for 30 days, including three categories: land which has been tested and no contamination has been found; land which has been tested and contamination has been found; and land on which no testing has been undertaken.
The existing policy does not address the scenario where a property previously identified as contaminated is subsequently remediated.
