Moss Vale Plastics Recycling Facility

To whom may concern,

I have worked in and lived in the Southern Highlands for 15 years.
To consider this application has any potential is disgusting, and it would seem a sequence of poor judgements have seen it make it this far!

The haphazard EIS from GHD / Plasrefine is appalling for such a supposedly significant project, and I am confident relevant decision makers will see the gaping logistical shortcomings within the document! GHD / Plasrefine in their 'community engagements' have few answers for any questions of any cognitive depth relating to access, physical suitability, community safety, noise and light pollution and water and air quality protection for the immediate and broader community. The proposal is insensitive to the catastrophic damages it WILL cause to the socioecological nature of this part of the Southern Highlands!

The site Plasrefine propose to develop is currently land locked with no approved access! GHD suggest that Beaconsfield Rd. will be used for construction and the proposed Braddon Rd. will be established for operational access. Unless they cannot acquire the land, in which case they will continue to use Beaconsfield Rd (a cul-de-sac) to access as it is their 'legal allowance'. The portion of land they intend to acquire for access is currently privately held and surely should have been acquired before their application was even considered?! Beaconsfield Rd. at the Northern end at the topographical knoll has approximately 10 residential dwellings from the knoll to the northern end cul-de-sac. The road hardly holds up under light passenger vehicles and they propose to send volumes of heavy articulated trucks up this road. The Northern end of the rd, at the end of the cul-de-sac has a significant topographic decline which drops into the Australian BioResources (Garvan institute) site. There are no specifics as to the engineering to reinforce or 'cut and fill' their proposed access road. It is a considerable section of land to be engineered here! Again, a section which Plasrefine still do not currently hold! Beaconsfield Rd at the Northern end has a blind crest with residents on both sides and the safety for those residents would be jeopardised if construction or ANY heavy vehicles were to frequent what is otherwise a nearly dormant road! It would be negligent to permit such access via Beaconsfield Rd., even for construction purposes, if this debacle were approved. There is a day care facility only hundreds of metres from the Northern end of Beaconsfield Rd. and 2 other schools within close vicinity to the site where heavy, articulated vehicles should not frequent!

The site itself is within 150 metres of long term residents and operating noise, light and toxic air and water pollutants would destroy the rural / residential and ecological nature of this area! GHD lean on the language that 'the area is zoned for this', which demonstrated huge negligence and oversight when zoned by authority, and little concern for the fragile socioecological nature of this incredible part of our State! The area to the South of Douglas road should never have been considered for such development and the zoning should be reviewed to protect the communities health and safety, immediately and the broader population of our State.

The site sits atop category 2 riparian waterway and is prone to flooding. This flows directly in to the Wingecarribee River, which is a fragile and endemic ecosystem which has resident Platypus' and volumes of other natives within and around. This also flows in to and is within the SYDNEY drinking and water catchment!

The visual impact of this proposal will destroy this beautiful green edge of the Moss Vale community, both day and night with such large buildings and associated lighting, which again has no definitives proposed by GHD. This proposal will have significant adverse impact on the socioecological, community, 'way of life', tourism, health and well being of residents and threatens the nature of the Southern Highlands in general.

This proposal is ill-conceived and can not go ahead! I trust the State Planning department/s will quickly identify that these points raised, as well as countless other short comings in the EIS I know will deem this application and any similar to it for this area not acceptable or in line with what acceptable land usages within this area.

Yours Sincerely
Sean Green

This project is out of character to the beautiful area of Moss Vale and will have detrimental effects on the area, the neighbouring housing and the community. A recycling plant has no place in the Southern Highlands. We don’t want it, we don’t need it and we are doing great without it. Put it somewhere else, not in the Southern Highlands.

Its been proven that this project will poison the land, local area, ecosystems in the area and people in the area just to start.
No amount of perceived “financial benefits” make up for the pollution this plant will offload.
No way will it go ahead in the Southern Highlands

Having moved to Moss Vale just under two years ago I couldn't think of a more inappropriate industry or organisation to be allowed to start up in the region. This project is clearly not aligned with the character and the culture of the area and it's residents.

This plastics recycling facility is at the edge of a town and adjoins environmental management farmland. It's in the Sydney water catchment area, and will pollute the water and the air of the township. The only way to access the land is through the township and there will be 100's of trucks driving into this facility resulting in additional traffic and noise pollution.
It will run 24 x 7 and is right next to houses.
This needs to be cancelled and replanned for somewhere out of the water catchment area and not adjoining a town and fertile farmland.
Sincerely
Suzi Bryant

The proposed Moss Vale Plastics Facility represents a failure of historic planning and consideration of community values on social, economic and environmental grounds.

If the Plasrefine Waste Reprocessing Complex is approved, without a Social and Health Impact Assessment, it is entirely probable that those responsible will be responsible and liable for the negative outcomes to our people and their community. Rather than take risks please decline the Moss Vale Recycling Facility application.

The location for this project is totally unsuitable and because of this presents risk to the community. I object on the grounds of closeness to a residential community, traffic impacts and environmental safety particularly of water for Sydney’s catchment.
Plasrefine’s proposal for 5 storey buildings is inappropriate in size and scale within the town’s precinct-the 50km speed zone is still in operation here and 5 storey buildings will stand out markedly.
The location is close to homes and schools. Surely within all the millions of hectares of empty land in Australia they could find a far better location for this large scale industrial enterprise.? Within Moss Vale’s town limits is not sensible.
Traffic in Moss Vale is already impossible. The town centre cannot cope with current amounts of through traffic, as demonstrated in the need for a new bypass. Such a significant increase in the amount of traffic would be catastrophic. Wingecarribee road infrastructure is already failing to cope. In the recent storms the Illawarra highway collapsed near Burrawang and remains closed so all the traffic has been re-routed through surrounding small country roads which are themselves collapsing as a result. Our local roads are simply not designed for heavy traffic on the scale of this proposal.
The health and safety aspects are frightening. 16000 litres a day of waste water which will be potentially contaminated . One of the backers of this project, Beijing based businessman Liu Yalin, owns companies which have been censured in China by Beijing’s Environmental and Ecological bureau. This is not a man who inspires trust in an environmental and ecological context. Anyone who watched the Winter Olympics could see the lack of environmental sensitivity in Beijing and this man has been censured even in China whose values in this area do not match Australian ones.
I do not understand enough about air quality implications but inevitably fumes will be emitted far too close to homes and schools.
So in summary I think the proposal for this facility in this location is totally unsuitable.
The developer should be encouraged to select a location away from residential areas.

Having created a ban on coal mining across the Wingecarribee Shire, we are now being faced with a proposal to construct the largest plastics refining facility in the country in a dangerously close proximity to Moss Vale and Berrima. I strongly object to this proposal.

The shire is attracting a growth of population and the site nominated. being in close proximity to the town of Moss Vale with all its facilities for healthy life, raising and educating children, recreation and a clean environment, we do not need this massive 24X7 thundering procession of B-Doubles loading over 100,000 tonnes of plastic waste into this massive plant, a total eyesore on the landscape.

I strongly object to its ever having been permitted to proceed this far.

As a resident on and off in the Southern Highlands I appreciated the beauty and peace of the area and have now retired in Moss Vale. That an industrial plant would be built so close to a residential area with accompanying noise and pollution from transport vehicles is unacceptable. Whilst I suppport recyling in all forms I also identify that the placement of the plant so close to Sydney/Moss Vale is an economic one to cut down on the costs of transport. This is a sceptical and cold heated decision based on profit margins. Australia's need to recycle is important but the solution should be one guided by the respect for all our rights to quality environments. It must not go ahead at any cost.

I strongly object to the above proposal on 2 grounds.
Firstly is the potential enviromental health issues that such a facility poses from both byproducts of the recycling process and potential hazardous fires in area with limites fire services.
Second is the traffic impact that will without doubt arise from 100 or more truck movements along residental roads from a 24 hour facility. Both in numbers of vehicles using these roads and the associated noise. The proposed roads are not suitable such heavy vehicle traffic with some portions have no sidewalks making local pedestrian traffic unsafe with regular heavy vehicle use.

I wish to express my strong objection to this proposal of Plasrefine Plastics plant in Moss Vale.

I object to road access. Southern highlands roads are already extremely congested, especially in Moss Vale, and having another 50+ truck movements and also general traffic to and from the Plastics plant is a huge cause for concern in such residential areas. Access routes that have been shown by the GHD EIS are also cause for concern. In their EIS it states that they can use a secondary transport route of Innes Road, Moss Vale for Trucks, which would then need to continue along Garret street. Innes Road is used by St Pauls Primary school as a pick up zone for children. Having truck movements through this road will be extremely dangerous and as a parent of that school, would never want children, parents, families or teachers at risk from heavy truck movements in a small quiet residential street such as Innes Road. At pick up time this road is lined with cars on both sides parked and waiting to collect children, which causes the road to be narrow and also many people around. Also, Garret street runs along the front of St Pauls Primary school, and this road is extremely busy in the mornings for school drop off, and also again at school pick up time for buses and parents who are collecting their children from this side of the school. It will be catastrophic, to have an extra 50+ truck movements through this area, a SCHOOL ZONE area, and safety for our community should be paramount in any decisions.
Beaconsfield road Moss vale has also been named as an access road - this is in no way suitable. Beaconsfield road is not even able to handle to amount of residential traffic, let alone that of truck and extra car movements. Its an uncurbed road with no paths, in which many school children walk to and from schools and bus zones. Residents from many neighbouring streets also walk this road with elderly, young children and dogs. There is also an Early Childcare centre on Beaconsfield road, this has families coming and going throughout the day to drop off and collect children. I also have a child at this daycare centre and I have strong concerns regarding safety.

An extra 50+ truck movements, along side extra regular transport to this Plasrefine site will cause not only have traffic congestion concerns, but also concerns regarding pollution increases, and also no doubt cause the roads to need repairing more regularly, and these roads are already peppered with potholes that can do serious damage to cars. I'm assuming this will be a rate payer expense.

I have concerns with health and safety of this Plastics plant, as they have stated that they will be producing Volatile organic compounds and these gases within our community are concerning. Micro plastics have the potential to also be released into the air and be blown far across the Southern Highlands. They can affect our air, waterways, agriculture and livestock (and even the food they produce) and of course humans as well. I am a neighbouring property and am NOT OK with this being so close to my home where I raise two small children and an abundance of animals and livestock.

The southern highlands is known for its beauty and peaceful, clean country living. Tourism flocks to the area.
And now there is a proposal for a dirty plastics plant to come and contaminate the area and also its reputation.

Also, the Riparian land with spring fed dams on/around this site and its waterways flow into the Wingecarribee river, which is also a water catchment for Sydney. How can this even be a consideration as being ok. We have the potential of huge contamination issues.

The Garvan Institute which is the ONLY facility of its kind in Australia, and is a bio medical research institute serving as an essential service nationally, can be heavily affected by the close vicinity of this proposed plastic plant.

This Plasrefine plastics plant should not be allowed to build on this site. It is wrong and the community do not want it here.

The position of the new plant is in the worst possible spot for the following reasons.you are proposing to turn residential rds into highways for semi trailers to enter & exit the proposed plant which would cause undue noise & dust,& put children's & adults lives at risk & also devaluing our homes,clearly who ever proposed to build this factory on this site does not live in the highlands & has no idea on the devastating impact this would have on our residential areas.

I am writing to you in regard to the development of the Moss Vale Plastics Recycling Facility
Project ID SSD-9409987.

My family lives a plastic free, waste free lifestyle. This proposal means the plastic will still eventually end in landfill just in a different form.

The site I believe is unsuitable; it is too close to the town. The visual impact is significant particularly for residential houses close by.
The building will be too big for the area impacting visually.
I believe there is no survey plan no contour plan no cut and fill plans.
The roads are narrow and the proposed amount of trucks which will travel to Moss Vale from around the country 24hour, 7 days a week operation will be a huge disruption to residents who will be greatly impacted by the noise, smell and visual impact. This will affect people’s health and wellbeing.
I presume if they are running 24 hours the place will be lit up. That is a huge impact if you live close by.
Toxic smoke is inevitable.
Odor from the whole process is of great concern.
Increased noise is also inevitable.
The water catchment will also be affected. I understand an enormous amount of water (46,300L) per day is required to wash the plastic; it then has to be disposed of and will end up in waterways or the local water plant. The contaminated water (16,00L) per day ends up in Sydney’s drinking water. We have water catching capabilities at the moment. There will be drought again leading to water shortages. Where will the water they require come from?

As a regular visitor to the Southern Highlands and knowing family and friends who reside in the area, I wish to strongly offer my objection to this project.

A plastic waste reprocessing complex, which is the size of 15 football fields, is NOT appropriate in a rural area close to schools and residents and close to water catchment areas vital for Sydney's drinking water supplies. There is little road infrastructure in place to support such a complex. While the reality of constant truck traffic poses a threat to the well-being of locals.

Also alarming are reports of local residents being unaware and uninformed of this proposed complex, despite it being a prerequisite that appropriate community awareness and consultations take place. Community engagement appears to have been under done and now residents are left scrambling to process all the information and prepare a submission. This is poor form on the part of those proposing this complex. The cynic in me feels like this was a "tick the box" approach to community engagement.

This project is too big, too toxic and too ill-conceived to be allowed to go ahead. To put it simply: this is the wrong site for such a complex.

Thank you for the opportunity to submit feedback.

Kind regards,
Vicki

I wish to draw your attention to my attached submission.

I wish to object to this project for the following reasons:
1.According to the research, local populations living close to these facilities suffer from serious health conditions, respiratory diseases, skin rashes and eye disorders, not to mention the potential cancers caused by plastic resin compounds.
2. Airborne Volatile Organic Compounds emitted during the process of turning plastic waste into flakes and pellets and products can be toxic.
3. Plasrefine Pty Ltd is a company registered in Australia, with 100% Chinese interests.
4. The factory is proposed to be located within 150m - 200m from homes.
5. Site is one Lot and DP with 2 Zones.
6. the site has 2 incompatible zones, Conservation (C4) and an under sized General Industrial portion (IN1)
7. The site has highly sensitive environmental areas (Koala Habitat), and a category 2 riparian waterway that flows directly into the Wingecarribee River, the SYDNEY Drinking Water Catchment!
8. ZERO infrastructure in the proposed area.
9. Amenity of the area - Almost 8 acres of building over 5 storeys in height in a highly visible area.
10. Too close to 2 Schools and an Early Childhood Centre. See above.
11. The proposed plant to function 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This is a small town and the noise pollution will affect many in near by residential areas.
12. Estimated 160- 200 heavy vehicle truck movements and 240 light vehicle movements per day using the local Moss Vale road Network, (Light vehicles over 3 shifts in the 24 hour period). The state of local roads are poor at the best of times. Increased movements by large trucks will have an even greater impact leading to possible accidents and deaths on the roads
13. Proposed to take 120,000 tonne per year of dirty plastic waste from Sydney / Canberra / Wollongong (and more recently updated to include Vic and QLD)
Wash / heat / shred / pellet and melt then make more plastic products, greenwashed by the term RECYCLING.
14. Proposing to use 46,300L of water every day to wash plastic waste sourced from a combination of rainwater harvesting and potable town water.
15. Proposing to pump 16,300L of contaminated water a day into our already overloaded sewage system.
16. NO Offensive Industry Licence, just a requirement to do an annual air quality audit!
17. For a proposal of this scope and scale—a proposal for a State Significant Development and a facility that would be the largest of its type in the country—should be supported by a rigorous, open and transparent community consultation process that includes the entire Local Government Area, and the entirety of Moss Vale at a minimum. This has not occurred.
18. This is not 3kms North of Moss Vale but with in the town boundary - MISLEADING!
19. Prevailing westerly winds could potentially blow emissions, smell and dust over Burradoo and Bowral.
20. Will directly impact the highly sensitive Garvan site where a road extension will be forced.
21. Will directly impact home prices in Moss Vale, Who wants to live near a plastic waste dump?
22. WHO IS PLASREFINE? No one knows as they will not engage with the community!

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to you in regard to the development of the Moss Vale Plastics Recycling Facility, Project ID SSD-9409987.
I believe the focus of society at large should be to reduce the amount of plastics used and this facility would in the end become a white elephant sitting in what is a natural environment. I often go cycling in the area of Beaconsfield Road and enjoy its current green space and views.

I have reviewed the plans and documents regarding the SSD and have put together the following summary of my concerns and objections.

1. Beaconsfield Road is a suburban street and is not suitable for heavy vehicles. The facility is proposed to be located within close proximity to homes located on Beaconsfield Road
2. The site is incompatible with current zones, Conservation (C4) and 7.7ha of General Industrial (IN1)
3. The site is too close to the Moss Vale town centre.
4. The truck movements would cause significant impact to local infrastructure, which is already burdened with current new housing developments and lack of required planning and maintenance.
5. The 38,638 square metres of buildings on a 6ha complex of over 18 meters in height, will NOT enhance the district at large and tourism will suffer.
6. The physical impacts of the proposal on scenery and amenity, traffic, noise and pollution from the proposal will result in the loss of Moss Vale as being a scenic and lovely place to live and visit. I fear for the future for residents, our community and our surroundings. I have no doubt there would also be social impacts.
7. The facility is proposed to use 46,300L of water every day to wash plastic waste sourced from rainwater harvesting and potable town water along with proposing to add 16,300L of contaminated water a day into an already overloaded sewage system will add additional burden to the local infrastructure. Our area is also a water catchment area for Sydney, which could be impacted.
8. The resulting odour from this plastic waste and the possible toxic dust and emissions blowing across the township of not only Moss Vale but other local towns will be detrimental to the health of the community at large.

I object to this project. The southern highlands is a tourist destination and already struggles with traffic and this project will make things far worse. I’m concerned about water quality and the impact on air quality. It’s the wrong site for this works. I hav e huge concerns about traffic congestion and also how unsightly the site will be. We don’t need 24 hour trucks impacting our town.

I am currently building in Beaconsfield Road close to this proposed waste plastics processing factory. I am very concerned about this development and strongly object. My wife and I will be seriously adversely affected should it be approved.
I object on the main concerns following:
1. That the site is landlocked and there is no access other than via residential Beaconsfield Road and adjoining-residential roads in the North West Moss Vale area. These are residential roads. Beaconsfield Road in particular narrows dangerously to a country lane up the steep hill past my land toward the site. As far as I know the proponents have yet to acquire land for a new access road up from Lackey Road (Figure 2.1 Proposal site location and key haulage routes). If the development is approved, but the new road does NOT eventuate, they will use residential Lytton and Beaconsfield Roads to service operations. This is outrageous and will cause ongoing terrible impositions on the safety and amenity of residents. They should not even be allowed to use this access route for construction let alone operations.
2. The size and scale of the proposed proposed buildings. At 18 metres in height and six hectares in size, this complex will certainly NOT recede into the landscape as my residential build is required to do. The concept sketch in Figure 7.2 is misleading as it does not represent scale.
3. On the EIS proposed plan (Figure 7.1 Concept plastics recycling and reprocessing facility layout) I see only ONE space for truck parking, though the EIS says 8 medium rigid vehicles on site (7-8). Where are all the other untold numbers of semi trailers going to park while they line up and wait to unload and or load? I’ll tell you - they will queue on local streets which will add to noise and air pollution as diesel engines must be kept running for fuel efficiency and aircon use for the comfort of drivers in the extremes of Moss Vale summers and winter. And as there is no other access except via Beaconsfield Road, it will cause grave safety issues for the neighbourhood, including a pre-school on Beaonsfield Road. And at the very least, inconvenience residents’ access to local council roads from their homes.
4. These days truck drivers enter the address in the GPS and follow directions for the most convenient route. There's no guarantee they will stick to the route prescribed in Figure 2.1. So who will monitor the so called haulage routes and number of trucks, let alone enforce them? No one.
This proposal should be denied.