Community waits for verdict as GrainCorp class action wraps up

A Victorian court has heard that a class action involving allegations of offensive noise and odour from GrainCorp's Numurkah factory, in the state's north, may not be decided until November.

Numurkah resident Kevin Green told the Supreme Court of Victoria that he lost his job and his family experienced financial and health impacts, which he attributes to the expansion of the canola processing factory.

Mr Green is the lead applicant out of 18 people in the class action alleging offensive noise and odour from GrainCorp's Numurkah factory, which is about 100 metres from his home.

Over the past two and a half months, the court has heard evidence from Mr Green and eight other class action members about the impacts they say they allegedly suffered as a result of the expansion.

Mr Green's lawyer, Darryl Williams AM KC, told the court that since 2017, the site had expanded its operations and the company was aware of the relationship between increased output and noise and odour.

He said GrainCorp's approach to minimising emissions could be described as "expand first, fix problems later".

GrainCorp's senior counsel, Kathleen Foley, pushed back, saying the company was proactive in mitigating its impact.

"We wish to be very clear; to the contrary, noise and odour are continuously thought about and addressed by GrainCorp. Its approach is not simply responding to problems once identified; it is proactive in its approach," Ms Foley said.

'Frightening' odour

Over multiple days, Mr Green provided evidence about how the noise and strong odour from the factory had risen significantly in the years after GrainCorp took over the factory in 2012.

The court heard how the Green family were fatigued after being frequently woken by noise from the factory, eventually leading to Mr Green losing his job.

He also detailed the "frightening" odour, he believed had caused his family to suffer ongoing health impacts including nausea, headaches and chest infections.

Under cross-examination, Mr Green said the company kept the local economy going but was located in the wrong spot.

When asked why he did not just sell and move away, Mr Green told the court that he could not sell his home as he did not want to put another family in his position.

The court also heard from Numurkah resident Rebecca Abbey about an explosion at GrainCorp that shook windows at her home earlier this year.

She said the incident forced her family to leave town for about an hour amid safety concerns.

'Fixated' on factory

In its written closing arguments, the defence argued Mr Green appeared to be "fixated" with the GrainCorp factory, and that he continued to believe the factory was damaging his and his family's health, "despite not being able to put forward medical evidence in support of that belief".

In response, Mr Williams told the court his client may well be "fixated" with the factory after "years of excessive noise and… odour".

"To be frank, it's not essential to Mr Green's case that you find him to be rational or that his response has to be [so]," he said.

The defence told the court it was clear from the expert evidence that "occasional or intermittent odour or noise from the factory … does not give rise to the kind of substantial interference that is necessary in order for a private nuisance to be made out."

However, the plaintiff's legal counsel said the "objective evidence" of its own noise expert showed GrainCorp "exceeded prescribed noise limits" and argued the defendant's noise expert's evidence should be given little weight.

Today, the parties returned to court to discuss organising the large volume of evidence in the trial to assist Justice Stephen O'Meara in reaching a verdict.

Justice O'Meara reserved his judgment and indicated a verdict is unlikely to be handed down before November.