Pakenham’s stench is nothing new, it’s a …

By Jade Lawton
PAKENHAM’S ‘sickening’ stench has been on the nose of residents for more than 20 years.
Cardinia Shire Council has received at least 10 complaints about an odour in Pakenham in the past month.
But the latest complaints are just the tip of the iceberg – a 1987 letter to the Pakenham Gazette also described a ‘strong, disgusting odour’ blanketing Pakenham.
Marion Cross invited visitors to her home town in December, 1987 but left for a fresher-smelling town.
“My visitors refused to stay and shop in Pakenham. They refused to go to the arcade coffee shop as they said they just wanted to get away from the terrible smell. So our shopping and coffee money was spent in Berwick,” she wrote.
Ms Cross complained to the council’s Chief Health Surveyor but said she was told the offensive smell most likely came from a passing cattle truck.
“After living on a cattle property since ’72, I know the difference between farm smell and a sickening odour. Ratepayers of Pakenham don’t let your town be known for its smell!”
More than two decades on, Pakenham businessman Michael Porter says locals should not have to put up with the stench any longer.
He contacts the council and Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) every time he smells the stench. His most recent complaint was on Monday night.
“It’s the same smell every time. It’s often after hours, after dark that it happens, other times early in the morning,” he said.
Mr Porter said he believed the original smell was from a fertiliser business that has since closed.
“How many times do the people of Pakenham have to complain before something is done about this? Sorry but we should not have to live like this, we deserve better,” he said.
The News understands that the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has previously ordered the company that owns the waste transfer station, in Drovers Place, to address odours coming from the site.
In March 2009, a council audit found the Pakenham Waste Transfer and Recycling station had breached 11 permit conditions following a council audit.
Cardinia Shire Council spokesman Paul Dunlop said the council had previously worked with business operators and the EPA to reduce odours coming from local businesses and was currently investigating the most recent complaints.
“Appropriate action will be taken to address any unauthorised activity relating to odours recognised as a nuisance or which have emanated as a result of a breach of planning regulations,” he said.