Liverpool Council is seeking legal advice on whether it can stop the controversial Moorebank Materials Recycling Facility in the courts.
And local MP Melanie Gibbons yesterday told the NSW Parliament that the fight will go on.
These developments came in the wake of the NSW Planning Assessment Commission [PAC] giving the green light to the proposal.
Liverpool mayor Ned Mannoun has assured local residents council would explore all avenues, including fighting the plan in the courts if necessary.
The council has backed the strong opposition of the residents and previously promised to consider taking legal action if approval was given to the proposal.
In the NSW parliament just after lunch yesterday, Holsworthy MP Melanie Gibbons hit out at the approval and promised that that the fight against it was far from over.
“About one and a half hours ago the Planning Assessment Commission gave approval for the Moorebank Materials Recycling Facility to go ahead. Stringent conditions apply, nevertheless it will go ahead,’’ Ms Gibbons said.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“I am very disappointed with this decision by the PAC. About 1,300 local residents attended a protest meeting and voiced their objections. They did everything they possibly could to be heard. They did a brilliant job but, unfortunately, this facility has been given the go ahead.[/social_quote]
“I do not understand why. It causes me a great deal of distress that local residents will have to deal with pollution and health impacts from this facility, as well as increased traffic on their roads.
“I believe that many parts of this facility’s application were not properly considered. The PAC looked at the fact that under Liverpool Local Environmental Plan 2008 the site is zoned EN2 environment conservation but that the facility can be permitted on the site with consent as long as the consent was granted prior to 1 September 2018.
“Since 2008, which is many years ago, hundreds of homes have been built in the surrounding areas. Blocks of land that are currently being cleared on the New Brighton Golf Club site were not taken into consideration at all. In fact, the application does not even mention the possibility of these homes and yet people are looking to purchase them now.
“Many people on a neighbouring site at Georges Fair were not aware of this facility when they purchased their land. They were not given adequate information; there was only a letterbox drop to the couple of homes that had already been built,’’ Ms Gibbons told parliament.
“I do not believe that that is good enough. The proposed facility was not properly publicised in the local papers and the company did not make every effort to inform people of this application. The local environmental plan I have referred to was done under an administrator for Liverpool City Council. The current council is very much against this development going ahead. The council’s voice, my voice, the Federal member’s voice and the voices of community members should have been heard.
“The concern is the health of local residents, particularly those who, in good faith, purchased blocks of land and designed their dream homes and took on large borrowings to make it happen. Obviously, they are concerned about the health of their families in what otherwise would be a beautiful, peaceful area in which to raise a family.
“The area is near shops, schools and bus stops, and it has good access to the city and great employment opportunities. These people considered it to be a safe place, but all of a sudden a materials recycling facility is to be built right next door.
“Recently, also to my disappointment, the PAC gave concept approval to the Sydney Intermodal Terminal Alliance [SIMTA] to be built less than four kilometres away from the Moorebank recycling facility.
“I do not know how much particulate matter PM10 and PM2.5 the area can take without causing greater health risk to our children and young people, especially asthma rates. The particulate matter PM10 and PM2.5 are caused by dust and the particles can travel a long way. In particular, PM10 can reduce air quality up to 45 kilometres away, yet the Moorebank Materials Recycling Facility is a distance of 35 metres from homes.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“It causes me a great deal of distress, particularly as the SIMTA facility will be just four kilometres away. The Federal Government has said that it has a proposal from the Moorebank Intermodal Company seeking to handle 1.55 million containers and up to an unlimited amount. So we could expect anything in this area.[/social_quote]
“It is a particularly worrying time for many local residents. I will be looking at what we can do to assist these local residents. As I have said, I am disappointed with this outcome and I indicate that we will definitely continue our fight.’’
