THE owner of a Killara composting plant has had a win against Wodonga Council in his ongoing battle to protect and expand his business.

But Terry Corrigan said he was “frustrated” over what had turned into an almost decade-long battle over odour management at Greenchip Recycling’s Whytes Road site.

He said the council wanted to shut him down and criticised them for spending “hundreds of thousands” on Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal cases.

The council — which has sought to revoke Mr Corrigan’s operating permits permanently — refused to comment on his statements yesterday.

Greenchip, under the parent company Ileowl Pty Ltd, and the council have faced off at VCAT at least three times since 2013.

The most recent case ended in March when senior member Jeanette Rickards and member Ian Potts gave approval to Mr Corrigan’s appli- cation to build a new shed and three silos.

The shed would be used to turn compost into pellet fertiliser and bag it for sale, and the silos for pellet storage.

The council initially refused to accept Mr Corrigan’s application on the basis an additional fee was required, forcing the two parties to VCAT in June last year.

VCAT sided with Mr Corrigan and ruled the council had failed to consider the application in time, leading to a five-day hearing in October and February where the council argued pelletising was a new use of the site and therefore a separate permit was needed for this.

It also stated it would have refused Mr Corrigan’s application even if it were considered in time because of odour management concerns.

However, VCAT found pelletising was not only allowed, it would also potentially reduce odours.

“The end products may have a variety of applications but this does not change the use... the conversion of the mature compost into pellets is in our view a form of the manufacturing of top soil equivalent that is permitted under the 1996 planning permit,” Ms Rickards and Mr Potts said.

“The proposed pelletising of matured compost represents, by all accounts, the lower end of odour emission risks.

“That this activity will occur inside a new building where any odour emissions can be collected and treated to an acceptable standard lessens the risk even further.”

The ruling has led Mr Corrigan to question the ongoing battle between himself and the council.

“I’m happy with the end result of course but it’s frustrating to have to go through this,” he said.

“When you look at it from every angle, there’s got to be something else going on — I’m trying to make sure the site’s good for the long-term and the council has done everything to knock it on the head.”

Mr Corrigan said he had spent between $80,000 to $100,000 on this case alone; he lost one hearing against the council in February last year.

Greenchip has been the subject of ongoing odour complaints since at least 2008, largely from residents at the growing Killara housing estates.

Wodonga councillors decided in 2012 to look at options to withdraw Greenchip’s planning permit; in 2013 it lodged proceedings with VCAT, which are still ongoing.

The EPA has also slapped Greenchip with pollution abatement notices, which Greenchip has complied with; the EPA did not object to the most recent application.

Greenchip is in an Industrial Zone 1 and is a neighbour to the former Bandiana saleyards.

It processed Wodonga Council’s green waste until this saga started.