Moss Vale Plastics Recycling Facility

I wish to make a formal objection to the proposed plastics waste disposal facility for Beaconsfield Road, Moss Vale as detailed in the attached letter.

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?

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I object to this project based on the environmental damage that a process like this will have on our community.

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.

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

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.

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

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

As a freehold owner this project will violate my right to peace and quiet, I should be protected from the nuisance of the substantial and unreasonable interference from the air,
noise and light pollution.
I believe the location of this facility is wrong, it is within the Moss Vale town boundary, with unacceptable noise impacts, poor road access, overdevelopment of the site due to its small size, and the visual intrusion of the rural landscape and only meters from the Garvan institute.
Transport access is uncertain and unacceptable, their estimate of 100 truck movements per day with no set route and no control over drivers who will take the fastest route, There is no accounting for the additional vehicle movements of the planned 140 staff who will be shift workers and unlikely to use public transport.
Road access is not suitable for heavy vehicles, narrow roads with no footpaths within the vicinity of two schools and a child care centre.
Road maintenance will become the responsibility of the council ratepayers after the initial very small one off contribution from the developer with no consideration of the further deterioration of the local roads from the heavy vehicles.
The developer speaks of a new access road yet does not even own this land and it would still need to be fed from the local road system, their traffic impact assessment was
undertaken during covid and pre the covid migration to the Moss Vale area, not giving a true and current impact assessment, leading to increase traffic on local roads, increased traffic related noise and inadequate existing road infrastructure.
I believe my health and safety will be substantily impacted from the toxic residues,toxins in the plastic dust,odour from the plastic waste bales, the large use of town water and the contaminated water entering the overloaded sewage system and also no mention of where the residue sludge and waste goes to, as our current waste sights are already overloaded.
The Southern Highlands has always been an area of natural beauty giving a comfortable travel time for residents from Sydney and Canberra for respite and tourism this project will severley effect tourism and the future enjoyement of this beautiful natural area.
This site should never have been rezoned as aresult of a decision from a council that has now been placed in administration.

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

As a long time resident of this Shire, with children and grandchildren living nearby, I write to object to the Plasrefine proposal. This plastics recycling activity would seriously compromise the clean air which is one of our most precious assets. A facility of this scale needs to be situated far from residential areas. It needs access to roads in all directions with heavy and noisy traffic flowing outside residential areas.
This may well be a useful industry startup. However, for two major reasons it should not be allowed:
1. The Southern Highlands is the wrong area for this. It is already too populated, too important as a pure air and water area close to Sydney, and too reliant economically on tourism. Health would be compromised and jobs lost.
2. This is a foreign owned company without a responsible track record.
As has recently been agreed in relation to Posco's proposed coal mine near Berrima, the Southern Highlands is a precious environment which needs to be protected for future generations, as well as current residents. Any damage to air and water would have serious flow on effects for the community and the economy; in the case of waterways and groundwater, any contamination would be irreversible.
I urge all concerned with these permissions to have the courage to protect what is valuable, for now and for later.

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.

I object to this project on the following grounds:
Environmental impacts on both ground and air quality.
Impact on Moss Vale residents from vehicular movements
Loss of visual amenity of open countryside
Impact on tourism to the area due to the project being totally inappropriate to the Southern Highlands as an area of rural beauty with clean air.

I am strongly against this project for the following reasons:
- First is the air pollution a plastic recycling facility will produce, this is especially important as the facility is close to a populated area, only a few minutes by car from Moss Vale's town centre, and on the same road as a child care centre with a primary school just another street away.
- Secondly, the road condition is not well maintained and is worn, which will be further deteriated at a faster pace by trucks. As it is a residential area, there are many cars parked on the street, making the road narrow and dangerous for trucks and their driver to navigate through. Another hazard is that children regularly walk and ride bicycles on the street, including travelling to and from school.