Blacktown City Council - Media Release - Public Meeting Ignites Outrage For EFW

media release

14 May 2018

Blacktown City Mayor Stephen Bali MP says today the community spoke even louder against the Energy from Waste Incinerator at the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) public meeting.

A total of 28 speakers, including community members and officials, spoke at the public meeting at Rooty Hill RSL with more than 100 attending the meeting.

“This has become a long-drawn-out saga for Western Sydney residents and I commend them for taking the time to speak at the public meeting,” Mayor Bali said.

The Dial a Dump Industries (DADi) applied to the NSW Government to build one of the world’s largest Energy from Waste facilities at Eastern Creek.

Since 2013 Blacktown City Council has objected to three different applications to the facility being built, and members of the community led a robust campaign against the facility.

“The NSW Government needs to take note when its planners, the NSW Environment Protection Authority, NSW Health, and tens of thousands of people living in Western Sydney and a parliamentary inquiry unanimously say this incinerator should not be built,” Mayor Bali said.

“The community in Western Sydney has spoken time and again against this facility being built because they hold great fear of the negative environmental and health impacts,” he said.

“Despite three attempts and constant re-writing of environmental modelling, DADi has consistently failed to comply with NSW standards, let alone those in Europe.

“This demonstrates just how dangerous this plant could be for the community if approved,” Mayor Bali said.

“There are several schools within reach of the incinerator’s emission plume, and parents have clearly told Council they are worried about the health of their children.”

Mayor Bali said he was pleased to see residents still turning up on a working day to stand against the proposal.

 “After today’s meeting we have to wait and see if the Independent Planning Commission (formerly the Planning Assessment Commission) follows suit and rejects this proposal.”

“I strongly urge those people who did not get the chance to raise their voices at this meeting to put your concerns on paper and write to the IPC this week. All written submissions will be considered by the commission,” Mayor Bali said.

Details:

Email: ipcn@ipcn.nse.gov.au
Website: http://ipcn.nsw.gov.au

Background Information on the EfW application:

The application to build an Energy from Waste Incinerator at Eastern Creek is currently before the Independent Planning Commission for final approval or rejection.

In its assessment of the project the Department of Planning and Environment gave ten basic reasons why it recommends the EfW Incinerator be rejected by the Commission:

·         the proposal is inconsistent with the EfW Policy which presents uncertainty around the performance of the facility and the long-term risks to the environment and the health of the local community

·         the Applicant has not identified a suitable 

reference facility and therefore the expected air

emissions from the proposed design fuel are unknown

·     given the uncertainties described above, the

location of the proposal in close proximity to

densely populated residential areas, schools, childcare

entres and employment areas in Western Sydney, is 

not suitable

·         the proposed design fuel contains a significant

portion of potentially hazardous waste streams which

may result in harmful compounds, such as dioxins and

furans, in the emissions

·         the development is likely to use material for energy recovery instead of utilising this material to achieve higher order resource recovery outcomes, which is inconsistent with the principles of the WARR Act and the NSW EfW Policy

·   the Applicant’s assessment is likely to have
overestimated the volume of residual waste available
for energy recovery in the MLAand has therefore not 
adequately justified the scale of the proposed facility

·         submissions on the development demonstrate there is significant opposition to the proposal

·         the Applicant has been unable to gain the community’s acceptance of the proposed development

·         the proposal is inconsistent with a number of the

relevant waste and resource recovery strategies with

respect to its scale and proposed waste feedstock

·         the development is not in the public interest as

the public benefit of the proposed development does

not outweigh the potential unacceptable impacts the

proposed development may have on the surrounding 


local community now and into the future.

Blacktown City Mayor Stephen Bali MP with protestors at IPC public meeting (left) and talking at the commission (right).

Community member Julie Tsanadis (left) gives an emotional presentation at the meeting. Supported by Kim Vernon (right).

More than 100 people attended the meeting at the public meeting at Rooty Hill RSL.