A major expansion of the Bingo waste recycling centre at Mortdale has been recommended for approval after a scaling back of the hours of operation and volume of waste to be processed.
The original proposal for 24-hour operation has been reduced to 6am-10pm, six days a week.
Bingo Recycling also cut back the proposed processing capacity from 300,000 tonnes per annum (tpa), which would have been a ten-fold increase, to 220,000 tpa.
An assessment by the Department of Planning and Environment concluded, in view of the changes, impacts such traffic and noise “could be mitigated and / or managed to ensure an acceptable level of environmental performance subject to the recommended conditions of consent”.
The state government’s Planning Assessment Commission will hold a public meeting on December 12 to hear submissions before making a decision on the application.
Residents were outraged when the application to expand the Hearne Street facility was lodged without warning in mid-2016.
Under the original proposal, truck numbers would not only double to 430 a day, but 85 per cent of them would be heavy vehicles, including B-doubles, compared with the present situation where 70 per cent are light vehicles.
The department’s assessment report said the key concerns raised in public submissions were the suitability of the site for the proposed volume of waste to be processed, traffic impacts, potential queuing in the street outside the site entrance, sleep disturbance from night time truck deliveries, and dust and odour impacts,
“Government agencies requested further assessment of noise from plant and truck movements during the evening and night time periods, further assessment of emissions based on projected daily throughput and details of leachate and green management waste,” the report said.
The report said, in response to public and government agency concerns, the applicant amended the application.
In addition to reducing operating hours and the waste volume, the applicant proposed prohibiting all vehicles accessing the site via Barry Avenue, removing bin storage on site to increase space for vehicles to manoeuvre and increasing staff numbers from 12 to 13 per shift with the addition of a traffic controller at the site entrance.
The proposed capital investment was increased from $2.46 million to $3.74 million.
The report said the government agencies were generally satisfied the changes presented reduced and acceptable impacts, in particular for traffic and noise.
“The department’s assessment concluded the impacts of the development could be mitigated and / or managed to ensure an acceptable level of environmental performance, subject to the recommended conditions of consent,” it said.
The commission’s will hold a public meeting at 2pm on December 12 at the Mortdale Community Centre, in Boundary Road.
Anyone who wishes to speak must register, and written submissions will be afforded equal weight.
Further information: Phone 9383 2115 or visit: pac.nsw.gov.au
