6 JANUARY, 2026
YEAR IN REVIEW... STORIES OF THE YEAR The No Sunbury Waste Incinerator group. (Supplied)
Residents rise up In 2025, Sunbury residents banded together to fight activities they felt were threatening their way of life and their enjoyment of the town. Locals began making noise about a proposed waste-to-energy facility, which HiQ hopes to build at its Sunbury Eco-Hub on Sunbury Road. The facility would process non-hazardous waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill. According to HiQ, this would include household waste, and pre-sorted materials from construction, building, and business operations. HiQ said the proposed facility would
generate enough electricity to power at least 50,000 homes. The development does not require planning permission from Hume council as the state government is the responsible authority for the application. In June, Sunbury councillor Kate Hamley said the community was concerned the town would become “Melbourne’s dumping ground”, and urged her colleagues to advocate for the government to reject HiQ’s proposal. While HiQ will need to lodge an application for the facility with the Environment Protection Authority, it was granted a waste-to-energy licence in
August by Recycling Victoria. The licence means that if the facility is approved, it will be able to process up to 750,000 tonnes of waste per annum. Also in August, residents took their fight against the incinerator to state Parliament, before Western Metropolitan MP David Ettershank tabled a petition calling for the planning minister to halt the approval process in December. Residents also rallied against relentless truck movements along Canterbury Avenue, Sunbury. In September, frustrated residents spoke out about the volume of trucks driving along their quiet street over the past six
months – said to be more than 300 per day – to access a property at 370 Riddell Road. Residents documented their fight on Instagram and lobbied Hume council to take action as the “endless” noise took a toll on their wellbeing. Council took Fendall Farms Pty Ltd and Paul Attwell to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) over the ongoing works at 370 Riddell Road, with the tribunal ordering works must stop in October. In November, VCAT issued further enforcement orders against illegal earthworks at 370a Riddell Road and 430 Riddell Road.
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