Paul Hardy
Object
Paul Hardy
Object
Dalton
,
New South Wales
Message
Please see attached submission
Attachments
Rachel Hardy
Object
Rachel Hardy
Object
DALTON
,
New South Wales
Message
I object to an extension of time for AGL to consider a proposed power plant in Dalton. Submission attached.
Attachments
Name Withheld
Object
Name Withheld
Object
Gunning
,
New South Wales
Message
I vigorously object to the AGL project. I have attached my submission below in PDF format also.
Regards
27 March 2017
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to object to company AGL's proposed extension of time for the commencement of work for the proposed gas fired power plant project at Dalton (DPP) New South Wales.
The project is totally inappropriate and not wanted by the family and farming communities of Dalton and Gunning. This last minute extension is not fair and has set our communities on edge yet again. AGL again has not considered the needs and wants of our community nor has it understood our message. It looms as a threat on our every-day living.
I'm vehemently opposed to an extension of time for the project following reasons:
1. AGL is seeking to modify the project approval to extend the lapse date for a further two years to enable them to `review the DPP in line with current technology and energy market circumstances'.
 Allowing AGL to review the DPP to assess `current/new technology' would be a shift away from the original approved proposal that clearly stated the technology to be used. An action to introduce different technology, including battery storage and more advanced turbines, could substantially change the impact on our community and the environment than was stated in AGL's original submission.
 Consideration of `current/new technology' should only be considered through a new DPP application process and under the legislation and rules with which new proposals are considered, not the legislation (now repealed) under which the original project proposal was approved.
2. In the AGL request to extend the lapse date it is stated that `In October 2012 AGL announced the suspension of construction of the DPP due to difficult market conditions - including lower demand for electricity'.
 AGL has had five years within which to make a decision to start building the power plant and it has opted not to do so in this time period. They have had 5 years to continually assess and consider changing market conditions.
 I suggest AGL is seeking an extension on the basis that things `could' change from this point on, rather than what changes have occurred in the last 5 years. AGL wants to hedge its bets on its future with this project. It is not considering the immense uncertainty and unrest this puts on our.
3. AGL seeks to modify the project approval to extend the lapse date for a further two years to enable consultation with the local community, landholders and other stakeholders. AGL claims it wants to be a `trusted and respected member of the communities in which it operates'. It claims it wants to engage beyond baseline regulatory requirements.
In response to this:
 AGL has shown no commitment to the community in the last five years. AGL is a landowner here yet it has contributed nothing to the Dalton community since becoming a landowner here.
 There are new environmental concerns. The area has recently been identified as an environmental hotspot with the recent finding of the southern pigmy perch and the yellow spotted southern bell frog in our water ways. The frog was thought gone for thirty years. A power plant will surely threaten these two endangered species. This must be addressed as a new factor.
 Noise generated by the proposed plant is a major issue.
 AGL has shown complete disregard for its obligation to care for the land it owns. AGL has failed to control noxious weeds on its lands. The invasion of native plant communities by exotic weeds threatens our native plants and animals and it threatens the livelihoods of our farmers (AGL's neighbours).
4. AGL state that extending the lapse date would not change the positive socio-economic benefits of the DPP. It talks of 5-10 long term jobs.
 There are no positive socio-economic benefits of the DPP. Since the AGL announcement to suspend the DPP project the village of Dalton and surrounding Gunning communities have grown. Families have moved here with no knowledge of the proposed plans by AGL. AGL does not participate in our community in anyway and there are no socio-economic benefits for someone living in our community.
 People have made financial decisions about buying property and building in our community since the AGL announcement in October 2012. An extension of time for AGL would only serve to return concerns and fear again for our new community members for the next two years. It potentially has significant financial economic and environmental impacts on them that they did not foresee or were warned about. If the DPP is built those families may end up with property that is worth less than what they paid for it and borrowed to buy it.
 Dalton and Gunning are farming and tourist communities. We are not technically qualified to work in a gas fired power plant. To the contrary, we understand that the plant will be operated remotely, not by locals. Five to ten long term jobs does not warrant a significant social-economic benefit. AGL should put a poll to the community as to whether they wanted 5-10 long term jobs as a benefit from the project. From anecdotal community feedback to date, it would be emphatically `no - we do not want the AGL project'. I have not met one local community member that wants this project to go ahead.
I first came to Gunning with my family in 2009. I am a health care professional and currently work as CEO for a community organisation; looking after the elderly and people with a disability in the Upper Lachlan Shire. I brought my ageing mother to live here in 2011, thinking her twilight years in a rural country environment would be good for her health and wellbeing. How wrong I was.
When the AGL project was first approved in 2012 I was Manager of Gunning District Community Health Service in 2012. I violently opposed the project then as did everyone else I knew. The stress on the community at that time was enormous. The stress has returned.
Has AGL considered the impact on the aged and those with a disability? Demographics show that the Upper Lachlan has a higher than average ageing population. For those who have lived here all their lives, having this monolithic poisonous project imposed on them at this stage of their lives would be just devastating. And what about people with a disability living in the area who may have decision-making impairment; how does AGL have the right to impose this on them? What about their fragile health and well-being?
We all live here to be a part of a quiet rural community. If this project was to go ahead people would not come here. It would be known as an area NOT to live in. Our villages would be forever changed. We would not trust the water we drink nor the air we breathe. Our land values would go down. Our homes will be overshadowed by a giant power plant emitting poisons and pollutants into our air, on our roofs, in our creeks and dams and our community in general. But AGL would continue to make money and spoil it for all.
Further, I understand if construction of the plant was to proceed it would be undertaken by Leighton's. I would also be concerned about AGL's claim that construction would provide local jobs. Construction companies such as these bring crews in from outside the area, and set up self-sufficient camps. Local business rarely benefits in these situations and if it does the gain is not long-term.
In summary, I urge you NOT to grant the extension of time for the commencement of the Dalton Power Plant.
Yours Sincerely
Regards
27 March 2017
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to object to company AGL's proposed extension of time for the commencement of work for the proposed gas fired power plant project at Dalton (DPP) New South Wales.
The project is totally inappropriate and not wanted by the family and farming communities of Dalton and Gunning. This last minute extension is not fair and has set our communities on edge yet again. AGL again has not considered the needs and wants of our community nor has it understood our message. It looms as a threat on our every-day living.
I'm vehemently opposed to an extension of time for the project following reasons:
1. AGL is seeking to modify the project approval to extend the lapse date for a further two years to enable them to `review the DPP in line with current technology and energy market circumstances'.
 Allowing AGL to review the DPP to assess `current/new technology' would be a shift away from the original approved proposal that clearly stated the technology to be used. An action to introduce different technology, including battery storage and more advanced turbines, could substantially change the impact on our community and the environment than was stated in AGL's original submission.
 Consideration of `current/new technology' should only be considered through a new DPP application process and under the legislation and rules with which new proposals are considered, not the legislation (now repealed) under which the original project proposal was approved.
2. In the AGL request to extend the lapse date it is stated that `In October 2012 AGL announced the suspension of construction of the DPP due to difficult market conditions - including lower demand for electricity'.
 AGL has had five years within which to make a decision to start building the power plant and it has opted not to do so in this time period. They have had 5 years to continually assess and consider changing market conditions.
 I suggest AGL is seeking an extension on the basis that things `could' change from this point on, rather than what changes have occurred in the last 5 years. AGL wants to hedge its bets on its future with this project. It is not considering the immense uncertainty and unrest this puts on our.
3. AGL seeks to modify the project approval to extend the lapse date for a further two years to enable consultation with the local community, landholders and other stakeholders. AGL claims it wants to be a `trusted and respected member of the communities in which it operates'. It claims it wants to engage beyond baseline regulatory requirements.
In response to this:
 AGL has shown no commitment to the community in the last five years. AGL is a landowner here yet it has contributed nothing to the Dalton community since becoming a landowner here.
 There are new environmental concerns. The area has recently been identified as an environmental hotspot with the recent finding of the southern pigmy perch and the yellow spotted southern bell frog in our water ways. The frog was thought gone for thirty years. A power plant will surely threaten these two endangered species. This must be addressed as a new factor.
 Noise generated by the proposed plant is a major issue.
 AGL has shown complete disregard for its obligation to care for the land it owns. AGL has failed to control noxious weeds on its lands. The invasion of native plant communities by exotic weeds threatens our native plants and animals and it threatens the livelihoods of our farmers (AGL's neighbours).
4. AGL state that extending the lapse date would not change the positive socio-economic benefits of the DPP. It talks of 5-10 long term jobs.
 There are no positive socio-economic benefits of the DPP. Since the AGL announcement to suspend the DPP project the village of Dalton and surrounding Gunning communities have grown. Families have moved here with no knowledge of the proposed plans by AGL. AGL does not participate in our community in anyway and there are no socio-economic benefits for someone living in our community.
 People have made financial decisions about buying property and building in our community since the AGL announcement in October 2012. An extension of time for AGL would only serve to return concerns and fear again for our new community members for the next two years. It potentially has significant financial economic and environmental impacts on them that they did not foresee or were warned about. If the DPP is built those families may end up with property that is worth less than what they paid for it and borrowed to buy it.
 Dalton and Gunning are farming and tourist communities. We are not technically qualified to work in a gas fired power plant. To the contrary, we understand that the plant will be operated remotely, not by locals. Five to ten long term jobs does not warrant a significant social-economic benefit. AGL should put a poll to the community as to whether they wanted 5-10 long term jobs as a benefit from the project. From anecdotal community feedback to date, it would be emphatically `no - we do not want the AGL project'. I have not met one local community member that wants this project to go ahead.
I first came to Gunning with my family in 2009. I am a health care professional and currently work as CEO for a community organisation; looking after the elderly and people with a disability in the Upper Lachlan Shire. I brought my ageing mother to live here in 2011, thinking her twilight years in a rural country environment would be good for her health and wellbeing. How wrong I was.
When the AGL project was first approved in 2012 I was Manager of Gunning District Community Health Service in 2012. I violently opposed the project then as did everyone else I knew. The stress on the community at that time was enormous. The stress has returned.
Has AGL considered the impact on the aged and those with a disability? Demographics show that the Upper Lachlan has a higher than average ageing population. For those who have lived here all their lives, having this monolithic poisonous project imposed on them at this stage of their lives would be just devastating. And what about people with a disability living in the area who may have decision-making impairment; how does AGL have the right to impose this on them? What about their fragile health and well-being?
We all live here to be a part of a quiet rural community. If this project was to go ahead people would not come here. It would be known as an area NOT to live in. Our villages would be forever changed. We would not trust the water we drink nor the air we breathe. Our land values would go down. Our homes will be overshadowed by a giant power plant emitting poisons and pollutants into our air, on our roofs, in our creeks and dams and our community in general. But AGL would continue to make money and spoil it for all.
Further, I understand if construction of the plant was to proceed it would be undertaken by Leighton's. I would also be concerned about AGL's claim that construction would provide local jobs. Construction companies such as these bring crews in from outside the area, and set up self-sufficient camps. Local business rarely benefits in these situations and if it does the gain is not long-term.
In summary, I urge you NOT to grant the extension of time for the commencement of the Dalton Power Plant.
Yours Sincerely
Attachments
Name Withheld
Object
Name Withheld
Object
DALON
,
New South Wales
Message
Please find attached my submission that strongly objects to the extension of two years to build a gas-fired power station at Dalton. This project must NOT be allowed to proceed.