Their concerns have already been outlined at a preliminary briefing to the Sydney Central City Planning Panel, but Cumberland Mayor Lisa Lake said that there had been so much widespread opposition to the development and concern about the lack of direct, formal notification received by residents, the council had to take a stronger stance.
The council will now have an external planning consultant prepare a draft submission that reflects its opposition to the application on public interest grounds.
Mayor Lake said she had refrained from taking this step earlier because of two governance issues, but “the needs of the community” outweighed her concerns.
“The opposition to this application has been heartfelt and overwhelming,” Mayor Lake said.
While the proposed facility at 109A Church Street, Lidcombe, would be capable of receiving up to 80,000 tonnes of domestic and commercial derived food organic and garden organic (FOGO) waste for bulking and transfer off-site for secondary processing, with about 118 truck movements at the site a day, an environmental impact statement has stated that the number of traffic movements would be “well within the road’s capacity and would not adversely impact upon the operation of the surrounding road network”.
There were also concerns about odour and noise which the EIS stated would be minimal and unlikely.
