Bullsbrook residents were surprised at the announcement on August 25 that the federal government’s planned quarantine facility would be built on Defence Land west of the town, after commercial negotiations with the operators of Jandakot Airport — the original site for the centre — broke down.
The 1000-bed facility will be built on Department of Defence land known as the Bullsbrook Training Area (or 3TU), 3 kilometres west of RAAF Base Pearce.
Community reaction has been mixed, although perhaps many of the negative responses were a reaction to the sensationalist way the announcement was made by mainstream media. References to the site being ‘contaminated’ and ‘toxic’ (due to ongoing issues in the area regarding PFAS contamination in the area) abounded in headlines, and shots by Channel 7 news reports insinuated that the quarantine facility would be built on the farm land between RAAF Base Pearce and West Bullsbrook townsite.
Many residents were happy for the facility to be brought to Bullsbrook with hopes it will be beneficial to the local economy. There were valid concerns about the lack of consultation before the announcement, but representatives from Minister for Finance, Hon. Simon Birmingham’s office have confirmed that community consultation will go ahead as the design and building phase moves forward. Global construction company Multiplex has been selected to construct the facility.
An official statement from the Bullsbrook Residents and Ratepayers Association says, “BRRA is disappointed and concerned at the total lack of community consultation that has taken place and the failure of consideration of the potential impact on the Bullsbrook community prior to the Federal Government announcing the proposed Quarantine Facility in Bullsbrook.
“While BRRA is not opposed to the Quarantine Facility in principle, we are unable to reach an informed view on whether it may or may not be positive for Bullsbrook because we have no details of the proposed facility. its location and how or by whom it will be managed or employment opportunities. BRRA would like to see a map showing the exact location and footprint of the proposal, and to be involved in the community consultation. The Bullsbrook community should not have to find out through media reports or social media what is happening, which is not always accurately reported.”
As for concerns that residents of the quarantine facility will be exposed to PFAS, Minister Birmingham said, “We brought in, as part of the assessment, independent engineering and planning firm AECOM. They had a close look at the environmental health and other issues there. We’re quite confident in terms of the site itself, concerns that have been raised in a broader area there about PFAS relate very much to groundwater issues. And of course, we’re not intending to have groundwater supply this and we’ll be providing proper potable drinking water to the site.”
Planning for the facility aims to secure the first 500 beds being ready by the end of March 2022.
