BRIMBANK City Council has inspected 23 Brooklyn industrial operations in recent weeks to combat the odours from the Brooklyn Industrial Estate.

The inspections have been welcomed from residents, who said they were sick of odours stinking out Sunshine for up to three days a week.

Sunshine Residents and Ratepayers Association (SunRRA) president Darlene Reilly said many residents had told her they were fed up with the smells that were carried on southerly winds.

“In my area, Matthews Hill, you’d have to say we definitely get odours three days a week,” she said.

“It’s depressing that we don’t have fresh air. When you walk out the front door you cop foul air and can’t open doors on nice days with southerly winds, can’t go outside and enjoy your back yard or have a barbecue…I just think we shouldn’t have to put up with it.”

Out of the 23 Brooklyn operations inspected, council officers issued three to improve their current activities and one was fined for non-compliance with the Brimbank Planning Scheme requirements, and another is currently before VCAT awaiting a decision.

Brimbank City Council general manager of city development Stephen Sully said council officers also carried out weekly inspections and was involved with the EPA in an ongoing enforcement program.

He acknowledged the council had become “certainly a lot more vigilant in its assessment of applications for proposals that have potential to emit dust and odour than in the past” from a planning perspective.

The EPA did not respond to Star’s phone calls.