4 days ago
Court hears Fosterville Gold Mine noise 'torturing' Axedale neighbours
Victoria's Supreme Court has heard noise from the state's biggest gold mine has turned a country home into "a place of torture".
Kirsty McDonald and Karen Oliver have lodged a private nuisance claim, saying their home has become a "living hell" due to low-frequency noise from Fosterville Gold Mine's operations, 20 kilometres east of Bendigo.
The Axedale couple's claim against the mine is being heard in a judge-alone civil trial in Victoria's Supreme Court.
Fosterville Gold Mine unsuccessfully attempted to have the case dismissed late last year.
The couple's barrister, Jonathan Korman, told the court on Thursday the mine had done "not one thing" to abate the noise or ameliorate the plaintiff's "extreme state of physical and mental suffering".
Mr Korman said the couple had lived about 3km from the mine without issue for six years.
That was until mid-2020 when ventilation shafts were moved above ground, he told the court.
"It's common sense this noise is coming from the mine," Mr Korman said.
Mr Korman alleged Fosterville Gold Mine used a "repetitive gaslighting approach" to noise complaints, taking measurements that repeatedly found no breach.
"The subtle and insidious effect of this approach is to invalidate the complaint made," he said.
Giving evidence on Thursday, Ms McDonald told the court for the first eight months after the noise started, she thought the mine was working with them to fix it.
She said staff at the mine had initially agreed it was causing the noise, before retracting that view in April 2021.
"I felt betrayed and made a fool of," Ms McDonald told the court.
In the years since, she said her mental health had deteriorated, and the couple had resorted to sleeping in their car or "fleeing" to friends' homes.
Mr Korman told the court two other residents living near the mine were expected to give evidence, including one who became a "chronic insomniac" and wears earplugs or headphones day and night.
Martin Scott KC, representing Fosterville Gold Mine, told the court "exhaustive investigations were made in good faith" after complaints were received from the couple.
Mr Scott said the mine modified its ventilation fans to the satisfaction of the Environment Protection Authority.
The mine also rejects claims about how it dealt with the plaintiffs, he told the court.
Mr Scott said evidence from acoustic experts would show differences in noise measurements taken simultaneously at the mine and the plaintiffs' home.
He also said independent noise monitoring inside the Axedale home found levels were "below the threshold of audibility".
The 10-day trial continues on Friday.
