THE prospect of 55 trucks each five and a half day working week, driving along Polina Road and other roads in Kangaroo Gully for the next 10 years — with all the noise and road gravel dust which goes with it — galvanised concerned residents and hospitality business owners into action again last week.

Empire Grazing’s application to open a gravel pit on Lot 3 Polina Road, has been hard fought, ever since it was first rejected by the council in July 2007.

Having believed their lifestyle was secure after councillors twice refused the application, people living and running businesses in the area were shocked last week to get notices about the State Administrative Tribunal’s instruction to the Bridgetown-Green-bushes Shire Council to reconsider its latest refusal.

The notices were received on Monday and the council meeting was to be held on Thursday.

The Kangaroo Gully residents met on Wednesday evening and decided to ask councillors to defer a decision.

This would give them time to read the new reports submitted by Empire Grazing and assess if the extreme concerns for health, safety and the interference with businesses had been tackled, they said.

The next night councillors carried, by six votes to four, a motion to defer responding to the tribunal until after a special council meeting to be held in two weeks.

This would allow time for interested parties to study the latest submissions.

But it was pointed out at the council meeting, that if the tribunal was not satisfied with shire’s explanation, it could make a decision on the application, over-riding any and all council objections.

After the council meeting, Debbie Walsh, who chaired the public meeting, said councillors had passed on the information from the tribunal directly they had it.

“However it didn’t help us very much as none of the affected people have seen any of the latest rep-orts put into the tribunal,” she said.

“Although we have won a delay — thanks to the councillors who believe the public has a right to relevant information we will be hard pushed to read and assess any of the latest correspondence which may have been presented, but we will do our best.”

Mark Hardey of Empire Grazing declined to comment because the matter was in the hands of the tribunal.

“Although the Bridgetown-Greenbushes council are holding a special meeting, they have been given a chance to make a decision, so I hope it is a decision in good judgement,” he said.