22nd October, 2024.
Residents of Wingecarribee Shire are furious this week that the Moss Vale plastic recycling plant project, which is in the Goulburn electorate but near the border of my electorate of Wollondilly, progressed to the Independent Planning Commission with a recommendation from the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure that the project goes ahead. Those who are not familiar with the project may think, "Well, great! Plastic recycling, isn't that a good thing?" I will add some detail. The project is for an industrial scale, four-hectare, five-storey plastic recycling plant in an area designated for sustainable and innovative industries, including sensitive biotechnology, which will cause air and water pollution and release microplastics in the Sydney drinking water catchment area. The Wingecarribee Shire Council has opposed the recycling plant, and the project has attracted the attention of hundreds of community members who are against it.
Community members are not only disappointed; they are furious that their voices and concerns are being discarded. They have fought the plant for over four years. They are united in their conviction that it is the wrong project for the particular site. It makes no sense that a project of this type would be recommended to go ahead in this location. Studies have shown that anywhere between 6 per cent and 13 per cent of plastic processed at United Kingdom plastic recycling facilities could end up being released as microplastics into the environment. Plasrefine has proposed to recycle up to 120,000 tonnes based on operation hours of 24/7, all year round. There are no guarantees around that sum, which does nothing to address the real issue of plastic usage, consumption and reduction. In the process, the project will create pollution, disregard the community and ignore the will of the local council. The loss of trust in the State Government due to this process will be felt for generations.
But that is not the only example of the State Government trying to dump its dirty infrastructure onto the regions. In Tarago, just over an hour south, a waste incinerator project has been proposed to dispose of Sydney's rubbish. The project has resounding community opposition. Community members are well informed about the environmental risks, and they will not go down without a fight. Those are just two examples of the dumping of dodgy infrastructure on regional areas without giving consideration to the infrastructure that we need or deserve.
The Sydney-centric Government making the decisions cares only about Sydney and sees the regional areas as a blank slate for locating their polluting unpopular projects. Can members imagine a plastic recycling plant in Killara, Kyle Bay or Kingsford dumping microplastics and creating toxic fumes, or a waste incinerator in Epping, Earlwood or Eastern Creek? That is right: They tried to place one in Eastern Creek, and it received the same response from the residents as the projects in Tarago and Moss Vale—a resounding no. Eastern Creek was opposed by the major parties, yet all we get is silence about the regions.
Wollondilly, similarly to neighbouring regional electorates, is being duped when it comes to infrastructure. Like all parts of New South Wales, Wollondilly is expected to deliver its fair share of housing. We are well on track to deliver that housing, but without any of the infrastructure that we need. We do not have the appropriate roads, schools, health facilities and recreation facilities, not to mention the basics of jobs and sewerage. The State Government has promised one job to one house, and yet we are still waiting to see those plans for jobs for locals. Luckily some people are able to work from home, but others travel outside of the electorate to their jobs and to public transport. We do not have very good train services. We are lacking any public system, and services are often late or cancelled. It is almost three hours travel time to get to the city.
For too long the regions have been forgotten when it comes to valuable community-enhancing infrastructure. We will not sit back and let the State Government use our land and pollute our air and water, with no provision for sewerage in new developments or upgraded bus connections or more rail services. We are being dumped with developments that serve the State Government's vision for New South Wales's future, with no regard for the strategic goals of the regions. Regional communities are speaking out and councils are speaking out. It is time for the State Government to listen to the people who reside outside of the Sydney metro area. Last night over 500 people met at Moss Vale Services Club. They were really frustrated. After four years of thinking they had beaten the project, they were given two weeks to respond. That is not good enough.