THE caravan dump point at the Bill Waterson Skate Park on Alexandra Avenue, Ararat, will be relocated to Green Hill Lake following a council vote.
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Significant upgrades have been ongoing in the corridor between the skate park and Alexandra Oval and the council stated that the presence of the dump point is 'contradictory to the current use of the site.'
Three locations were listed as possible options for the new site before the council voted at its March ordinary meeting.
Those locations were: Gum San carpark on the Western Highway; Green Hill Lake; or Kokoda Park on Wilson Street.
The views were split between councillors, with some citing economic impacts and infrastructure concerns for each option.
Councillor Bill Braithwaite spoke in favour of Kokoda Park.
"I agree with the need to relocate the facility but this is a very important thing for our town - it brings a lot of business into town," he said.
"Because it's located in the town the second option, Kokoda Park, is the better option.
"There are concerns about the existing septic system out at Green Hill Lake, even though it's been upgraded, and the volume of the material being dumped there and the potential for it to leak and leach into the lake."
Council chief executive Dr Tim Harrison said he was concerned that the Kokoda Park option was too close to residential properties.
Councillor Fay Hull said there was still an opportunity to bring people into the town if the point was relocated to Green Hill Lake.
"By having it out of town it does perhaps mitigate against people going into the CBD and using things there," she said.
"However, I think that is off-set by the fact that if people have to go out to Green Hill Lake to use the dump point it may encourage them to actually stay there instead of just passing through the town and just using the dump point on the way."
Councillor Hull suggested that once the highway duplication project was complete, there was opportunity to put signage in place to direct people to the dump point and the town.
"People who might bypass Ararat on the highway might be more encouraged to come in," she said.
However, Ararat mayor, Councillor Peter Beales said Gum San was the best option as Kokoda Park was too central and the septic system at Green Hill Lake was not likely to cope.
Councillors Gwenda Allgood and Frank Deutsch were not present due to conflicts of interest, but those who voted in favour of Green Hill Lake were Councillors Fay Hull, Jo Armstrong and David Pettman.
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