The Ravensbourne Community Liaison Group met for the last time last week.
The group was formed more than 20 years ago to create a forum where people could discuss issues around the Ravensbourne community and the Ravensdown Fertiliser Plant, which is situated beside Moller Park.
West Harbour Community Board chairman Jarrod Hodson was at the very last meeting of the liaison group and formally acknowledged the work of the group and the Ravensdown group.
A fertiliser plant was established in the location in 1933-34 and run by Dominion Fertiliser before a management buy-out led to Ravensdown Fertiliser in the 1970s.
Mr Hodson said times had changed as the company became more receptive to what the community wanted and what impact the plant had on the community.
Regulations had been brought in which improved the environment.
Results of vegetation testing carried out in the area for fluoride damage showed it was at its height in 2000 when testing started and declined over the decades as the environmental work from Ravensdown increased over time.
The latest testing came back at its lowest level since it started — a reflection of the end of manufacturing on the site.
Ravensdown made a decision to close the manufacturing side of the plant in 2024 and it had been scaled down over the past couple of years.
There were now eight people at the site, which was now just a storage and distribution site, Mr Hodson said.
About 40 employees had left in the past two years.
There was a lot of work in recent times that had led to a vast improvement for the area with wide-ranging testing, he said.
‘‘It’s a far cry from the dark past when there was little regulation and massive piles of fertiliser outside in the open for the wind and rain to blow and wash it around the area.
‘‘Some testing will continue but most is no longer needed. The days of many, many homes almost as far as Maia, and even on the other side of the harbour in one case, having their windows replaced because of fluoride in the air reacting with the silica in the glass causing window clouding, are over.’’
Glass was replaced, specially imported to be used at Ravensbourne specifically.
In recent times, Ravensdown did listen and did take community concerns very seriously, to its credit, Mr Hodson said.
‘‘I found the team were very open with me, including allowing me to speak to Tonkin + Taylor, of Australia, that were involved in detailed testing.’’
The company had bought houses near the plant over the years and knocked many of them down.
The company was committed to looking after the little stream which ran near the plant and Moller Park and had done work on the cockle beds right down to Quarantine Island, Mr Hodson said.
