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6 JULY, 2021
12496404-AV22-21
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SIG N U P N O W!
Chasing the big breaks
(Damjan Janevski) 242039_01
A Tullamarine business owner wants to “revitalise” the nation’s interest in the sport of pool. Titus Raihman owns Pockets pool hall and nightclub in Tullamarine, and has set a “mission” to “put pool back on the calendar,” he said. “We want to create a series, derived with ideas and themes from other sports like AFL … to reignite the sport. “We’re trying to … take it mainstream.” Mr Raihman has created the Pockets 8 ball championship as a way to peak interest in the sport. “It will be an eight-man competition,” he said. “There will be six championships throughout the year, with one qualifier at the end. “My end goal is to get the players paid. “The guys who play are at such a high level … [they] should be getting paid for this.” Mr Raihman said he hopes to hold the first competition at the end of the year. Details: www.facebook.com/ pocketsprosports Michaela Meade
Landfill licence on the line By Tara Murray Residents living near the Kealba landfill fear suspending Barro Group’s licence will achieve nothing in their battle against ongoing fires. Operators of the Kealba landfill have been ordered to show cause why their licence to operate at the site should not be suspended. The Environment Protection Authority issued a notice of intention to suspend permission to Barro last week, because the group is in contravention of its operating licence. Hotspots have been burning at the Kealba landfill site since the second half of 2019, causing odours to drift across surrounding suburbs.
Neighbouring residents have long complained about the impacts the odour has had on their physical and mental health. Barro failed to meet a May 31 deadline, set by the EPA, for extinguishing some of the hotspots. The remaining hotspots are due to be extinguished by the end of July. Barro’s Steve Murphy has said that the fires are unlikely to be put out until May next year. The EPA says it still expects the Barro Group to complete the remediation of the landfill site as quickly and safely as possible and to the deadlines set in the current notice. Barro Group has until July 16 to respond to the latest notice. At a weekly online community meeting last week, resident Nicole Power questioned why
residents should think anything would change. “I am so tired and drained of all of this,” she said. “You suspend their licence for a period of time, [but you’re] not even talking about stopping the licence totally. “They have to stay there and clean it up anyway. How is this going to produce anything different to what has been produced in the last 19 months?” Brimbank councillor Virginia Tachos said residents want to be able to breathe fresh air. “What changes, if any, will the community feel with you asking for this to be put through?” she said. “This show cause means nothing to the community, unless action is actually taken to lessen the impact of these odours.
“For this to drag on two years it’s really unacceptable. “Our lives are in the EPA’s hands.” EPA chief executive Lee Miezis said the authority would continue to pursue the company to fully extinguish all hotspots and prevent them from reoccurring. Since December 2019, Barro has been issued with five notices requiring remediation at the site. It has also twice been sanctioned. “The community quite rightly wants this clean-up to be completed as quickly and safely as possible, and so does EPA,” Mr Miezis said. “The health and wellbeing of the residents living near the landfill is our first priority and we will continue to pursue all possible legal avenues to get this site remediated.’’
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