Residents in the New South Wales Southern Highlands will address their concerns regarding a proposed mega recycling plant. A three-day review of planning for Australia's largest plant has kicked off today, with most speakers expected to oppose it.
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00:00In Barrow today, the Southern Highlands community is being asked to respond to the State Government's
00:06decision to recommend for approval a large plastic recycling facility in Mossvale.
00:11The proposal itself would sit on about seven hectares of land, the factory itself on about
00:16three and a half hectares.
00:18It would rise four storeys in the air with a 22 metre stack and proposes to recycle 120,000
00:26tonnes of plastic each year.
00:28It's being pushed through the planning system under the State's Significant Development
00:32Application Pathway, which means it overrides the involvement of the local council.
00:37The State Government sees it as a critical development to help the State deal with a
00:42massive plastic recycling issue.
00:44So for four years, the community has been responding to concerns about the project.
00:49They've raised issues about truck movements, about air pollution and water contamination.
00:55The State Government's approval has led us to today in Barrow.
00:59The community has filled the local Memorial Hall and it's spilling out over the sides
01:03as you can see.
01:05They had a huge response to people wanting to speak at this inquiry.
01:10They at first suggested it would be online with only 50 speakers, 135 people registered
01:15and they were forced to hold two hearings in Barrow, the first of which is happening
01:19today.
01:20A bit earlier, we spoke to a member of Moss Vale Matters and a recently elected councillor
01:25to Winter Caribbee, Rachel Russell, about her significant concerns.
01:30This is simply not the right site.
01:33We have said all along, it is not that we are opposed to the industry itself, it is
01:39that we are opposed to the location.
01:41There is no buffer zone between residential areas containing childcare centres and schools
01:49and this hazardous industry.
01:51This morning we've heard from the proponent and the company, GHD, who were hired by Plasma
01:56Refine to complete the environmental studies supporting the project.
02:01The company suggested that the council should accept it because they've recently supported
02:06a concrete processing plant, something that the councillors outside were very distressed
02:11to hear and rejected on site.
02:13They also suggested the factory would be sympathetic to the landscape, which received
02:18jeered and angry shouts from the hall, at which point the commissioner had to step in
02:23and ask the crowd to be a little bit more respectful of the process.
02:27The mayor got up, the new mayor, Jesse Fitzpatrick, and said that the community was beyond disappointed
02:33with the project.
02:34They were in fact disgusted and furious and there were no circumstances in which the community
02:41would allow this to be built.
02:44We've also heard this morning about the stress of the last four years and the emotional toll
02:49this has taken on the community, who they say they work full-time jobs, they have families,
02:54but they've had to respond to these very technical, lengthy documents and mount an argument in
03:00opposition.
03:01So the hearing will continue today, there are 70 speakers, it'll sit till 7 o'clock
03:05tonight, so a long day for the commission and the community, and they'll return later
03:10this week.