The Lara and broader Geelong community will gather this weekend for a public rally to protest a proposed waste-to-energy incinerator plant in the area.
The rally, beginning at 11am on Saturday, September 16 at Austin Park in Lara, is in opposition to Prospect Hill International’s (PHI) proposed plant, which would burn 400,000 tonnes of general waste every year.
After hearing from a number of invited speakers the floor will be opened to the public, rally attendees will conduct a short march through Lara before returning to Austin Park.
Rally organiser and Lara resident Charles Street said it would send a strong message to politicians and raise public awareness about the proposed incinerator.
He said while word was filtering through the community about the plant, many people were still unaware of the proposal.
“When we’ve been handing out leaflets and collecting signatures for our petition, we find that upwards of 50 per cent (of people), perhaps, don’t know anything about it,” Mr Street said.
“And frankly, when we tell them about it they’re horrified, absolutely appalled. Most can’t sign the petition fast enough.
“It’s extremely rare that we find anyone who is actually supportive of it.”
Mr Street said the organising group were looking forward to a peaceful, family-friendly protest of a few hundred people.
“We’re very well organised, we’ve got a permit from council and we’ve had a very productive and pleasant conversation with the police about how things should be done,” Mr Street said.
“My family’s going to be there, it’s going to be peaceful. We’d like to make a noise, but it won’t be aggressive in any way.”
Robert Patterson, one of the invited speakers, will talk to the crowd about his site, letition.org, which generates pre-written letter-petitions members of the public can send to local, state or federal politicians.
“I’ll be explaining how the letition system works and have a little three- or four-minute workshop right then and there so people can get on their phone and send their own letition,” Mr Patterson said.
“The thing about a petition is that when you sign it, it can take up to six weeks and then eventually it gets sent to some politician and nothing happens.
“A letition can be sent to every politician, every councillor. It goes straight to their office, and if hundreds of people do it then it’s a very strong thing.”
PHI did not respond to requests for comment.
