Legal action over saleyard
SOUTH Gippsland Shire Council is taking legal action against the owner of the former Korumburra saleyards site in a bid to clean the disgraceful, messy site once and for all.
This comes after council giving site owner the Rossi Group an ultimatum to comply with local laws by the end of April.
“Because the deadlines haven’t been met we have had to commence the legal process and instigate actions under the local law for the cleanup of the saleyards,” a council spokesperson told The Star.
Council could not comment further or on how long the proceedings would take.
The Rossi Group was contacted by The Star but did not return comment prior to publication.
When The Star inspected the site last week, the newspaper encountered alcoholic beverages, bags of rubbish and even a soiled mattress dumped on the site.
The old office building facing the South Gippsland Highway is overgrown with weeds, has countless smashed windows and has obviously been subjected to years of vandalism.
The site has sat as an eyesore at the town’s entrance for years and Korumburra Business Association president David Amor said he was overjoyed by council’s action.
“It’s absolutely fantastic, but it’s almost two months after the fact and if it’s not for me pushing and the paper asking the question how, it would sit on the back burner,” he said.
“I want to know if this will be cleaned up in five years or six months if this action is successful, that’s what I want to know.”
Mr Amor has been campaigning for the site to be cleaned up for years because of the site’s weedy, overgrown appearance and safety risks.
“Kids can get in over the fences that are poorly done,” he said.
“The gates, you can just about walk under some of them, and a kid can get in there quite easily.
“What do we need? A kid to go in there and die or get seriously injured before something gets done?”
Mr Amor said the community was sick of waiting.
Dirty business: Korumburra Business Association president David Amor is skeptical threatened legal action by Council will see a clean up of the saleyard site.
“The community and I want to hold the Rossi Group accountable if anything happens in and around there,” he said.
“I’m sick of people dumping rubbish off, dumping cars. It’s obvious when you go up to the front blocks that people drink around there because of the amount of alcohol cans.”
The overgrown grasses and shrubbery are cause for concern, Mr Amor said.
“Every year it becomes a bigger and bigger fire risk,” he said.
“We’ve got two houses that back onto the saleyards and yes, the Rossi Group has trimmed back from around those houses, but sitting right next to the fences are piles of the cuttings, big enough to be bonfires.
They are just underneath trees.
“Do we have to wait until summer time and they catch on fire, because then there goes house one and house two.
“If anything happens to anyone regarding those saleyards, I want the Rossi Group to be hit with the full brunt of the law because it just isn’t fair.”
Shire mayor councillor Kieran Kennedy was contacted but refused to comment on any ongoing legal matters involving council.
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