2021-08-10 Planning & Environment Committee Meeting Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                  10 AUGUST 2021


16.   Ensure that all disused underground hazardous chemical storage tanks comply with the
      requirements of the Work Health and Safety Regulations section 366, including.
      a.   Advise Workplace Health & Safety Queensland (WHSQ) that the tank(s) are no longer
           required and,
      b.   Within 6 months of the date of this approval, supply Council with certification from WHSQ
           that all underground tanks have either been removed or are decommissioned in
           accordance with the legislative requirements.
17.   Within 6 months of the date of this approval the petrol bowser within the road reserve must be
      removed.




                                        Figure 1: Locality Plan

At the time of deciding the application there was much discussion about the reasonable and
relevance of the conditions with a legal opinion obtained for Council that the conditions were
appropriately responding to the application for a material change of use of the site.
The applicant, being the operator at the time, accepted the conditions in order to open the business
but indicated that they intended to later seek Council’s further consideration of these conditions.
The operator subsequently commenced operations and continued the business up until around the
end of 2019, early 2020 with these conditions, along with other conditions remaining unfulfilled.
During this time a number of meetings and formal notices were issued to the operator and the owner,
with the bowser and particularly the underground tanks considered a significant safety issue, for
which Council was potentially a party to given their location in the road reserve. At the time as a
means of resolving this matter and addressing the safety issues, officers advised the operator and
owner that an option may be to pay Council 50% of the cost of decommissioning the tanks. Council
would then engage an appropriate contractor to undertake the works. This though would be subject
to a report to Council and decision by the Council.
Since the closure of the business, the owner, sought to bring the site into compliance and in 2020
had the bowser removed and the tanks decommissioned and in April 2020 requested that Council
reimburse 50% of the cost of decommissioning the tanks.
A tax invoice (amounting to $10,150.25) for the works has been received, with a certificate provided
confirming the works were appropriately completed. The land has since sold and the previous
owners (Madill Motors Pty Ltd) are now seeking to finalise this matter and identified that they had
not had a response to their request for reimbursement.

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