Former Daylesford Landfill - Ajax Road, Daylesford
Current use: Daylesford Transfer Station
Environmental Monitoring: Groundwater, leachate, landfill gas
The current site of Daylesford’s community transfer station at Ajax Road once served as a small town tip (now called ‘landfill’) for Daylesford and surrounds.
Council’s monitoring and management obligations
As a land manager under the Environment Protection Act for water and air pollution control. This activity is oversighted by EPA.
When deciding planning permits and planning scheme changes under the Planning and Environment Act for ‘landfill gas migration’ issues i.e. whether methane and carbon dioxide as the natural byproducts of decomposing waste have moved offsite through the ground – for an explanation of the phenomenon, see Section 4 of EPA Landfill Buffer Guideline.
Council management obligations will flow from any detected pollutant or gases beyond acceptable limits and can include:
- on site by remedial works i.e. construction of water retention basins or removal or management of odour or dust producing material.
- Requiring specific building techniques to avoid build-up of gases inside new buildings on the land and nearby land through planning permits – a similar approach to building in bushfire risk areas.
Addressing potential for landfill gas migration on nearby land The EPA Landfill Buffer Guideline provides standard planning permit conditions for building near landfills including across Victoria at Appendix C. This requires assessment of methane and carbon dioxide risk on a site – testing looks similar to pre-build geotechnical tests with some bore holes and testing equipment. If gases are detected above unacceptable levels, requirements for specific preventative building techniques is the most common response to manage the issue near smaller closed tips – some of these techniques are described at Section 12 of the EPA Guideline. More substantial landfills i.e. serving large metropolitan populations can require consideration of rezoning surround land or preventing residential, hospitals and child-care facilities nearby.
Hepburn Shire Council is currently applying this planning permit guidance in addition to its monitoring program. The default EPA assessment area for land gas migration is the same for all closed landfills in Victoria, no matter the size and age of the closed landfill.
Hepburn Shire Council is currently monitoring in and around the landfill on behalf of the community to understand the actual extent, if any, of landfill gas migration around the site.
Council’s objective is to clearly understand where there is residual risk, if any, that requires management through ongoing planning or other regulation. Council will be led by the testing evidence as to where any residual risk requires regulatory action.
As monitoring moves outwards from the site, if testing repeatedly shows gas migration is absent or at acceptable levels within and beyond the site, Council will be a position to relax requirements on planning permits and development. If gas migration is detected above acceptable limits further planning controls beyond use of the standard EPA guideline permit conditions may be considered in specific areas.
Landowners may commission professional testing on their own land at any time using the guidance in the EPA Guideline.
2024/25
Daylesford Closed Landfill - Environmental Monitoring Event Report - August 2024.pdf(PDF, 6MB)
Daylesford Closed Landfill - Environmental Monitoring Report Review Daylesford 2024.pdf(PDF, 656KB)
Daylesford Closed Landfill - Environmental Monitoring Event Report - February 2025.pdf(PDF, 6MB)
2025/26
Daylesford Closed Landfill - Landfill Gas Monitoring Report - October 2025.pdf(PDF, 4MB)(PDF, 4MB)
Daylesford Closed Landfill - Gas Risk Assessment - November 2025.pdf(PDF, 14MB)
In 2024, Council engaged environmental auditors to review the monitoring results and monitoring event report for the Daylesford closed landfill site to identify possible risks, and form recommendations to manage this site in line with existing regulations.
As per the Environmental Monitoring Report Review Daylesford 2024 listed above, Council is committed to prepare an Environmental Management Plan, which may identify the need for further testing i.e. landfill gases.