I Object to the proposed Plastics factory - citing the following reasons.

Location of proposed site, there are residential properties / houses within 200-300 metres, it is within 1 to 2 kilometres of the suburbs and CBD of the township of Moss Vale. Far too close for any factory of this type. Why - The rural surroundings will be irreversibly damaged to an unlimited degree regarding Air pollution / run off / unacceptable noise levels due to an estimated 200 trucks per day transiting the area and township of Moss Vale.

The Dynamics of Moss Vale, its residents / sense of community / Rural outlook / it's Tourism and growth potential all will be damaged beyond repair if this Plastics Factory is established. It will then open up to further factory / industrial development of the area - thereby destroying rural / cultural / natural / Aboriginal Historical features of the landscape of Moss Vale.

I refute the diligence of the EIS Statement that was presented. I have absolutely no confidence or assurance that all health concerns have been addressed, regarding Pollution (Air - escaping from the factory wind conditions towards residents / risk mitigation - suppression etc.) (200 Trucks producing Air / Noise / Road Damage / increased CO2 Diesel fumes pollution spreading through out Moss Vale residences.

No plans listed for the safety of surrounding residences in any major emergency event. One very real issue is a Factory Fire (Highest risk as per recent events with other recycling factories, such as :
"Capital Valley Plastics in Blaenavon, Torfaen WALES UK. 04 Sept 2021"
Results of this fire are best described in an article from "The Fire Protection E Newswire"
I pharaphrase the following. "While there were no reported injuries in the blaze, the impact on the local community and environment was significant with local road closures, residents being forced to close windows and doors due to harmful smoke, and a number of measures employed to minimise the impact of pollution to the local environment. One month later, what remained of the roughly 3,000m2 building was demolished and will be disposed of. The event developed high volumes of smoke and contained harmful contaminants. Furthermore, fire water run-off needed to be monitored by the relevant agency and there is the environmental impact of disposing of the damaged properties and the costs, resources and materials required to repair and rebuild them."

There are No listed Communication Methods or Evacuation plans for Moss Vale residents in the event of a major emergency. ?? No plans listed - no WHS plan for outside of the Factory.

I also have National Security concerns about the Foreign Company Ownership due to Current Geo Political Issues, and the Local Un-Invested Integrity issue of both the Company / Owner and Australian based PR Representation Company. There is no local vested interest i.e. all involved live no where near this region. Therefore no personal impact for them - as a result they have No local interest or care / regard for the area at all.

No specifics mentioned of where the work force will come from, no local involvement therefore little or no Local Financial & Employment benefit at all.

In Summary - The location for this type of Factory is completely wrong, it is not suited to the pristine Southern Highlands region / Landscape / rural location. Too high a risk of damaging Health issues as a result of this type of plastic fibres and resin recycling process. There are far better and safer locations with excellent access well away from populated locations, greatly reducing environmental and human health. I therefore submit my objection to the Plasrefine Plastic recycling factory being built in this area.

Submitted 21/03/2022

I strongly object to the Moss Vale Plastics Recycling Facility.
The risk to the health and wellbeing of the community is unacceptable. The increase in heavy truck traffic, pollution and risk of contamination of air and water will negatively impact the amenity of this area. This facility will cause irreparable damage to the environment of the Southern Highlands, an area of significant natural beauty.

I object to the proposal by Plasrefine Recycling P/L to construct and operate a Plastics Recycling and reprocessing facility
at 74-76 Beaconsfield Road Moss Vale.
SSD-9409987

* The scale of this enterprise is colossal.
* It is entirely inappropriate for a small town like Moss Vale.
* Beaconsfield Road is a basic residential road that is unmarked in places, is directly accessed by hundreds of residents, is narrow and barely allows two lanes of ordinary, household-sized vehicles, above Bulwer Rd, Beaconsfield Road is generally a 4.5m wide sealed surface, which is below minimum standards for roads that are to be used for anything other than residential purposes.
* While the proponent is now proposing access to the site during operation will no longer be via Beaconsfield Road, the road will still be used during construction phase, which is entirely inappropriate.
* There has been confusing information supplied to the community regarding route and truck movements, truck types and load quantities.
* There is scant information about the noise impacts of the facility, that would allow proper consideration or analysis, the design is yet to be finalised and machinery has not been nominated - essentially the request is to approve a concept of unknown impacts, and is near impossible to assess with out adequate design of the facility and details of machinery being used.
* The issues of air quality similarly can not be adequately assessed given the lack of details regarding the output of the machinery being used.
* The proposed use of high speed roller doors is also questionable in terms of truck movements, the EIS notes that trucks can drive in or reverse in to the facility, if reversing the trucks will take more time to get inside of the facility, allowing both smell and plastics to potentially escape into the environment.
* The EIS fails to address how they will manage operations, logistics and to ensure no processed flakes or pellets escape the facility, operational management plan is not included in the EIS.
* The promise of employment is questionable, insufficient information is given, and the Director of Plasrefine has publicly stated that specialist services will be recruited from out side Australia to operate the facility, coupled with the automated nature of the plant (also stated by the Director) there is insufficient information regarding actual local employment opportunities.
* Most of the community have had less than positive interactions with GHD and minimal if any interaction with Plasrefine Recycling Pty Ltd.
the community engagement has been distinctly lacking and anything but positive.
* Given the negative impacts that are to be borne by the community, there appears to be no public benefit to this proposal, the community has no confidence in the proponent and their capabilities of running a plant of this size and scale.
* The Environmental constraints of the site, must be considered, specifically the Sydney Water Catchment and the impacts in a worst case situation.
* This proposal is entirely wrong for the chosen location, and believe it should be rejected.

The need for this factory in vital, however the location in Moss Vale is not the right one.
From what I read there are major health concerns with such a factory being so close to residents, schools and businesses along with access for hundreds of trucks each day forcing further stress on our already challenged local road systems.
I am strongly opposed to such a facility going forward in Moss Vale.

I have numerous concerns regarding the increased heavy vehicle traffic indicated to deliver and remove plastics materials from the Plasrefine Plastics Recycling Facility proposed site at 74 -76 Beaconsfield Rd , Moss Vale.

Due to the increased heavy vehicle use and the ultimate deterioration of local roads and offset developer contributions via a Voluntary Planning Agreement for the sole purpose of building what essentially will become a private road to a single business therefore council / ratepayers will become responsible for upgrade and ongoing costs. This will impact numerous roads throughout the Shire along the "preferred haulage routes " - not just those directly adjacent to the actual site. Medway Rd , Taylor Ave , Collins Rd , Lackey Rd will all suffer major impacts . No where in the EIS has this been addressed even though Wingecarribee Shire council has stated they are in no position to rectify any damage from increased heavy vehicle movements and it would be the responsibility of Plasrefine . Whilst the GHD appears to promote any such road works as upgrades for the community’s benefit, these upgrades are necessitated purely for the private purpose of the proposal

There is no detail of the required construction for the proposed access road ( Braddon Rd East ) from Lackey Road - how can this have been costed and how can an adequate and educated decision be made on the environmental impacts of the construction of this road be made ?
The lack of detail would suggest that any negotiations with Garvan over the past 18 months have failed to reach a satisfactory result for either party.

The Traffic Impact Assessment undertaken in December 2020, during COVID lockdown within NSW and pre COVID migration / increased Sydney migration to the Southern Highlands. This deceptive behaviour needs to be addressed with a subsequent and substantial Traffic Impact Assessment before being considered as factual and relevant information.

There has been no adequate assessment of Lackey road or the substandard condition it is currently in following the recent rain events. Lackey Rd was closed over several days due to impassable flooding and the tarmac has sustained significant damage.
At a recent online meeting GHD proposed that Beaconsfield Rd be left open at the Braddon Rd junction - this has not been included in the EIS and goes directly against Wingecarribee Councils objection to the use of Beaconsfield Rd for either construction OR operation .
NOTE:
GHD have freely admitted that they have reached no agreement with council as to the required corridor for this road - despite the DPIE having issued their requirements in October 2020. That is 16 months and council have confirmed that very little contact
has been made by GHD. The alignment of a 20m wide corridor to connect to the paper Braddon Road has not been assessed by GHD (and therefore Garvan cannot be in a position to contemplate the potential impacts on their sensitive operations).
A traffic engineer has confirmed that there would be major cuts and retaining structures needed for the road construction - the proponent has indicated 1-2 months to construct the road and this is a massive underestimate and given no contour plans are included in the EIS it is impossible to make an educated assessment of this.

Even if the proposal complies with relevant traffic-related noise requirements, residents along the preferred haulage routes will still experience adverse noise impacts having regard to the current rural ambience and quiet that form the soundscape of the area. The highly concentrated traffic flows will adversely impact on this quiet soundscape, particularly for residents along the proposed construction and operational routes. The increase in traffic related noise
will compound the increase in noise from the facility’s 24/7 hour operations.

I do believe that the cumulative negative impacts that this proposal brings with it far out weigh any perceived benefits. This site and proximity to the local community ( and surrounding towns such as Berrima and New Berrima ) are not suitable for such a development and as such I lodge my ( and my families ) objection to this proposal.

Please find attached my personal objection submission in response to the proposal to construct and operate :
Moss Vale Plastics Recycling and Reprocessing facility at 74-76 Beaconsfield Road Moss Vale NSW 2577.

It is with upmost outrage that I write this submission in refusal of the plastics factory project. It is firstly unbelievable that is has gone this far without fair consultation with the community and the state it is seriously going to impose on. The health risks that have been proven by environmental scientists, will not only affect 50,000 local lives that you seem willing to sacrifice, but everyone in Sydney. How? It is being built on the Wingecarribee river that supplies water to Sydney, whereby plastic waste will runoff into the waterways. This will be bigger than Erin Brockovich!
The ignorant assumption that recycling plastic is a green, environmentally friendly alternative, is absolute rubbish. Plastic has been proven to only break down into micro plastics that will get into the river and will be blown out of the factory into the air for everyone to breathe in beautiful, cancerous materials. You will have higher rates of cancer, infertility issues in future and mental/physical issues in children born post development. The only other plastics factory that is around is built hundreds of kilometres from nearing neighbourhoods, while this one will be 200 metres away from the nearest residential road. Absolutely absurd!
But yes, lets destroy the health and sacrifice the lives of the common people in order to make short term financial gain from a Chinaman! What a short sighted, ignorant idea! Again, Australia decides to so stupidly sell out their land and businesses, we see green dollar bills and we jump at the opportunity, even if it means we won't use that money because we will all be dead from cancer in a couple of years of the factory being built! This Chinese Business man who is actually a "chemical" factory owner, and a bad one at that because his business in his own country has been shut down, will be operating this factory with as much expertise as a toddler has in reading the encyclopedia of Human Rights. Yes, Human Rights. The RIGHT to breath fresh healthy air. The RIGHT to drink uncontaminated water. The RIGHT to have a say in what happens in our community before it hits State processing.
Wrong, wrong, wrong!
If you have any thought or compassion or sense, you will take the submission respectfully and with deep consideration.
Regards
and hope for a better future for all

Please find attached submission on behalf of JD Constructions Australia Pty Ltd in objection to the
Moss Vale Plastics Recycling Facility.