Parkes Energy Recovery August Update
Over the past few months, we have been listening to your feedback and have heard that you want more information...
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Good afternoon
I mentioned in January that this year is set to be a big one, and it’s certainly proving to be true.
You may have seen that last month, the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) published its advice to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) recommending that Parkes Energy Recovery be declared a State Significant Development.
The IPC noted that the facility is state significant due to its alignment with state-wide policy and planning frameworks, the significant benefits it could bring to the state and Parkes region, the complexity of the technology and the need for state-level oversight into the potential impacts.
As we have said, while this is a matter for the NSW Government, we support any process that provides the highest levels of transparency for you and the decision-makers.
From here, the Minister for Planning will make the final decision whether to determine our project as a State Significant Development, and we will then receive the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs), which will outline the assessments that must be undertaken in the EIS.
As we await these next steps, we are progressing the development of the assessments that we know are of most interest to you – including air quality and agricultural impact. We are confident that when we can share these, they will answer many of your questions.
We’ve also continued to engage with the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry. You can read our responses to the questions we received here.
We’d also encourage you to read through the responses from Dr Jackie Wright, Director/Principal of Environmental Risk Sciences (EnRiskS), who is one of Australia’s leading specialists in air quality.
Overall, we know that there are questions in the community and have paid close attention to Parkes Shire Council’s decision last month.
We want to remind you that we are always available to speak with you, answer your questions, and listen to your feedback, and we’ll continue working with everyone in the community.
Our project specialists are in our community information office every week, and we encourage you to book an appointment to speak with them. Thank you to everyone who already has. If you’re not available to speak to us in person, we also always have our phone line and email address operating and encourage you to reach out there.
Speak to you soon.
Ed Nicholas
Director, Parkes Energy Recovery
What’s happened this month?
The Independent Planning Commission published its advice to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) recommending that Parkes Energy Recovery should be declared a State Significant Development. Once confirmed, we will receive the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs), which will set out exactly what must be addressed in our Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
We provided formal responses to questions as part of the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry process. These responses are publicly available and cover topics including economic benefits, comparable facilities in Australia, the technology and process of transporting waste. They form part of the broader discussion about Energy-from-Waste (EfW) in NSW.
We are continuing to invest in additional materials and displays at our community information office to support a clearer understanding of the project and how the technology works. We will keep you updated as this progresses.
Myth of the month
Myth
NSW Energy-from-Waste facilities operate under weak EPA standards.
Fact
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