NSW Greens WestConnex spokesperson and Member for Newtown, Jenny Leong MP has joined with NSW Greens Environment and Transport spokesperson, Mehreen Faruqi to call on the Premier for an immediate halt to the WestConnex tollroad after the NSW Government’s own independent peak environmental agency, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made a submission rejecting the Environmental Impact Statement for the final stage of the project as it does not have adequate information to enable an assessment.
Jenny Leong MP said:
“This is the most damning critique yet for the Premier and her Liberal/National Government when it comes to this polluting tollroad.
“So many transport and planning experts, federal and state Auditor Generals, members of the community, local councils and groups have raised the red flag on the complete inadequacy of the information produced by WestConnex in this planning process and now the NSW Government’s own independent peak environmental agency has joined them.
“You don’t have to go much further than the introduction to this latest Environmental Impact Statement to see it is a farce – stating up front that the detail of the design and construction approach is indicative only.
“When I asked the Premier in parliament earlier this year about the significant problem of the plans only being indicative – and the word ‘indicative’ being used hundreds of times in the M4-M5 Link EIS, she claimed that this was a good thing and that it showed they were listening, clearly the EPA doesn’t agree.
“The Greens have been listening to the community and to all the experts and the evidence and the verdict is in – this polluting tollroad disaster must be immediately halted – and it is now on the Premier to urgently act.
Mehreen Faruqi MP said:
“The state’s environmental regulator coming out and effectively saying that this EIS isn’t worth the paper it’s written on is pretty unprecedented and really highlights just how badly this project is being managed.
“I think it shows the Government’s contempt for the community and the environment when they don’t even bothers to put together a proper EIS showing all the impacts this project will have.
Background:
Question to Premier about indicative design of M4-M5 asked by the Member for Newtown on 13 Sept 2017: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Hansard/Pages/HansardResult.aspx#/docid/HANSARD-1323879322-98833/link/107
Link to EPA submission on WestConnex M4 - M5: https://majorprojects.accelo.com/public/04c879e2dde507c0ad93a7d6ad95d23d/WestConnex%20M4-M5%20EPA%20Submission.pdf
All govt and other submissions on WestConnex M4-M5:
http://majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/index.pl?action=view_job&job_id=7485
