Residents in Delacombe say they are at the end of their tether with noise and the dust generated by a nearby development.
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“It’s doing my head in,” said Julia Winter, who has been running a family daycare business in the area for the past four and a half years. Her property on Chifley Drive backs on to the works that are under way for the new Florian estate.
There’s inches of dust on everything. They’re breathing in the dust. I am confined to inside, I can’t get away from it.
- Julia Winter, Delacombe resident
“We’re experiencing a lot of hardship in my business and in general living due to a huge noise pollution and dust pollution problem,” she told The Courier.
“I can’t take [the children] out the back door. There’s inches of dust on everything. They’re breathing in the dust. I am confined to inside, I can’t get away from it.”
Several of her neighbours are also unhappy about the situation.
Glenys Warren-Teasdale, who has lived on the estate for the past four years, said the noise and the dirt had been an issue since just before Christmas.
Pointing towards a layer of dust on her shoes, which she said were clean before she arrived home, she described the noise as “unbearable” on occasions.
Work began last year on the Florian Living estate on the southern fringe of Ballarat. A Landcore development, it will contain around 270 properties of varying sizes.
The residents say they have told the construction company about the issue, as well as informing the EPA. The latter told them they needed to direct their complaints through the council.
The foreman of the site, which is run by Wilmslow Construction, said he was going “over and above” what he was required to do and was doing everything he could to minimise the impact on residents.
He said he was following all the right processes, and would change location whenever he received a complaint or if the wind was threatening to blow dust towards existing houses.
He also said he used the on-site water cart to damp dirt down after excavations but with the dry summer some dust was inevitable. The Courier understands the water cart has had some technical problems.
Ms Winter said she reported the issue to the council on Wednesday last week and an environment officer came to see what was happening yesterday.
A council spokesperson confirmed the visit and said builders had been told they needed to take steps to fix the problem.
Another resident of a neighbouring estate, who moved in to a new property in Delacombe six months ago, said he frequently encountered thick dust from construction work on the new Bunnings.
“It’s been so dry,” said the resident, who did not wish to be named. “There’s not much you can do.”
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