Gregadoo Waste Management Centre is set to expand following Wagga City Council’s purchase and classification of 232 Ashfords Road. Photo: Wagga Wagga City Council.
Residents around Gregadoo Waste Management Centre have voiced property value concerns following Wagga Wagga City Council’s (WWCC) purchase and classification of land for the centre’s expansion.
WWCC was required to purchase a new parcel of land to carry out its Waste Management Masterplan – which is set to begin taking shape in 2026 – after Transgrid acquired council land as part of its Humelink Energy project.
Upon acquisition of the land, the council was required to launch a public exhibition period stating what its intentions for the land were. Following the exhibition period, which finished in July, WWCC went through the process of classifying the land as operational in accordance with section 31(2) of the Local Government Act 1993, which was finalised at a recent council meeting.
More than 40 submissions expressed concerns about council’s acquisition and grading of the land, the major worries being about depreciating land values and environmental impacts.
“The presence of a waste centre can negatively impact the value of surrounding farmland, including my property directly due to perceived risks. I will face higher costs for pest control, weed management and other measures to mitigate the impacts of the waste centre,” one redacted submission said.
Another objector wrote: “The presence of a waste management centre will negatively impact property values, especially fence bordering properties.
“With this process moving forward, the potential to sell these neighbouring properties will be significantly impacted, even before the waste management centre expands.
“Potential buyers will be repelled by the potential of the waste management centre owning the land, especially if the land classification is changed to operational land.
“If this matter were to proceed, how would neighbouring landowners be compensated for the loss of value of their properties by the Gregadoo Waste Management Centre?”
Despite the submissions, the council has elected to proceed with the classification of the land as operational, ahead of the masterplan being adopted in 2026.
Director Economy, Business and Workforce Fiona Piltz said the new acquisition and its classification as operational land was required to meet the future needs of Gregadoo Waste Management, which on its current trajectory, is set to be at capacity by 2076.
“We purchased that land as a result of an acquisition following Transgrid’s obtaining some of council’s existing land for an easement,” she said.
“And as a result, we have purchased additional land adjacent to Gregadoo Waste Management Centre, and we need to classify it as operational land so that we can future-proof it for the use of the landfill.
“We’ve got 50 years of capacity left in the existing landfill.
“With our waste management strategy, we’re certainly looking to extend the life of those cells and reduce as much as we can going into landfill, so the more we can reduce from going into landfill, the longer the life of the cells, which ultimately means that we’ll have a longer life.”
Ms Piltz acknowledged the submissions against the land classification.
“We will continue to hear their concerns. A landfill is obviously something that no-one wants on their back doorstep,” she said.
“We do have a legislative obligation to provide a facility for our community and ensure that we keep our waste costs down for our population.
“We will certainly seek to address as many of their concerns as we can within the masterplan, but it’s also important to recognise that we are heavily legislated, and that legislation comes from the Environmental Protection Act. We have a duty and obligation under that act to ensure that we comply with our licence requirements.”
Ms Piltz said WWCC would continue to consult with affected residents in the first quarter of 2026, once work regarding the Gregadoo Waste Management Masterplan began to take shape.
