There’s been a mixed reception after the Ballarat Gold Mine were given the green light to develop a new tailings storage dam.
A planning permit for a new facility was approved by VCAT on Friday, helping secure the future of the mine.
The dam will store the crushed rock and chemical slurry left over from gold mining.
After council voted in favour of the dam last year, a community action group submit an appeal to the tribunal citing a failure by council to refer the proposal for an environmental effects statement.
Local Joan Brick said they never wanted people to lose jobs at the mine but wanted a better way to deal with the tailings.
“There is no other tailings dam that’s in the middle of a residential area,” she said.
“I think that’s the disappointing part is that we weren’t asking for [the mine] to be closed down but to deal with a more efficient way of dealing with the tailings dam, rather than having a huge open pit slurry of possibly toxic waste.”
The Committee for Ballarat welcomed VCAT’s decision, saying they recognize it comes after a forensic examination of the project’s pros and cons.
They said the environmental and other regulatory controls give them confidence the new facility will ensure the impact on the surroundings are minimal and well managed.
