Thirty seven speakers addressed the final hearing of the Restart of Redbank Power Station proposal with the Independent Planning Commission in Singleton last week.
Panel chair Neal Menzies said the hearing was to help the panel consider the proposal and if it can go ahead and if so, under what conditions.
Panel members also included Elizabeth Taylor and Alex O’Mara who listened to the speakers, posing questions from time to time along with Mr Menzies.
Speaking on behalf of the proponent, Verdant Earth Technologies, Dr Mark Jackson from JEP Environment and Planning, kicked off proceedings and stressed the restart of Redbank Power Station was a new application.
If approved, Verdant will relinquish the current approval to use coal tailings as a fuel at Redbank and instead will restart the plant using biomass instead.
Mark told the hearing that research indicated significant quantities of lawful biomass are available to support the project and that Verdant will work to implement a purpose grown short-rotation woody cropping program that will make up to 70 per cent of fuel needs by year five.
He said Hunter Region has an estimated 130,000 ha of coal mining lands that they saw as opportunities for plantations.
But there were plenty of questions coming from the public and again, Neal encouraged those opposed to the project to put forward conditions they would like to have included should the project get the go ahead.
Dr Ben Ewald, speaking on behalf of the Doctors of the Environment Australia told the meeting that he could not think of any conditions that could be imposed that would negate the risk and was concerned about air quality and the cumulative impact of pollution.
“We should not be adding any more to pollute the air,” he said.
Full transcripts of the submissions and presentations from the hearing are available on the Department of Planning website
Restart of Redbank Power Station | Planning Portal – Department of Planning and Environment
A decision on the project is expected before the end of the year.
