Blacktown City Council - November E-Newsletter

 

Energy from Waste - have your say

The waste management company Cleanaway is currently proposing to construct an energy-from-waste facility on a site on Wallgrove Road at Eastern Creek. The proposal, including the Cleanaway Environmental Impact Statement, is on public exhibition on the NSW Government’s ‘planningportal’ website until 16 November. Members of the public, organisations, interest groups, councils and Government and non-Government agencies are all invited to make submissions. The project has been deemed ‘State Significant’ by the NSW Government and as such the Government, not Council, has the final say in the approval process. Blacktown City Council has commissioned an independent review of the EIS and will lodge a submission on the proposal based on this review and the scientific evidence from here and overseas surrounding energy-from-waste. You have my guarantee that Council will ensure that the best interests of the health and well-being of our residents will be uppermost in Council’s considerations and actions. I urge people and organisations from all walks of life to make yourself aware of the project and make submissions by the closing date, not to Council, but to the NSW Government on the ‘planningportal’ website. The NSW Opposition, including the Member for Blacktown, Stephen Bali MP, is urging the Government to call a moratorium on all energy-from-waste proposals while a thorough scientific investigation is carried out on the waste-to-energy process under the NSW Chief Scientist. The Opposition is also demanding that all safeguards and regulations relating to the energy-from-waste process be reviewed and updated. The EFW plant’s stated aim is to generate power for more than 79,000 homes and reduce landfill by thermally treating (burning) up to half a million tonnes of residential, commercial and industrial residual (after recyclables removed) waste per year. The project is on exhibition here. You can find the Cleanaway information site here. New and modified suburbs in Blacktown City The NSW Government has approved 6 new suburbs and some new suburb boundaries in Blacktown City to accommodate the growth in the North West Growth Area. These changes are in effect from 6 November 2020. In Blacktown City, it is forecast that 85,000 new homes will accommodate 250,000 more people. Given this significant growth in population, a process was undertaken to create new suburbs of a more manageable size for existing and incoming residents. The process of creating new suburbs is managed by the Geographical Names Board (GNB) under the Geographical Names Act 1966. The NSW Minister for Customer Service has the final say on the suburb names and boundaries. Council has notified all residents and owners in the affected suburbs of the changes, and how they will be specifically affected. Click here for further details Blacktown City Council wins 2020 Councils Blood Challenge Blacktown City Council has been named the national Councils Blood Challenge champion for 2020. Following a ‘bloody’ good effort from Council staff and the local community, with a whopping total of 450 donations, Blacktown City Council took out the top honour for the third year in a row. Of the 450 donations, there were 127 whole blood, 294 plasma and 29 platelets donations, helping to save an incredible 1,350 lives. The Councils Blood Challenge is an initiative of the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood which runs annually between July and September. Blacktown City gets greener with tree-riffic planting program Blacktown City is becoming even greener, with nearly 2,000 extra trees planted across the City as part of the NSW Government’s tree-riffic 5 Million Trees program. The program aims to plant 5 million trees across the Greater Sydney region by 2030. The program works towards strengthening Sydney’s adaptability to climate change and to mitigating the incidence of urban heat. The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment provided a $1 million grant to Blacktown City Council for the tree planting program, with Council matching the funds. About 2,000 trees have been planted so far and, will be maintained for 2 years to ensure they are enjoyed by our community for a long time.

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