Blue Mountains News

Almost half of all 8,477 submissions on the draft EIS for the airport came from the Blue Mountains, with the community often representing more than 50 per cent of responses against each chapter.

Blue Mountains City Council’s submission to the draft EIS listed a raft of concerns, including environmental impacts, high visual impact to iconic landscapes such as the Three Sisters, and threats to Aboriginal Cultural Heritage and land-sky connection.

Council also cited the impact on residents including noise, the lack of wilderness area assessment, threats to the local economy and tourism, and inadequate notification of the proposal to UNESCO as major issues.

Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said he is concerned about the outcome of the final EIS and is planning to take a Mayoral Minute to the 26 November Council meeting about the issue.

“The submissions by Blue Mountains City Council and our community were made with the clear expectation that there would be changes, yet the impact to the Blue Mountains remains basically the same,” Cr Greenhill said.

“The submission made by Blue Mountains City Council was one of the most comprehensive I have seen made in a public consultation process, and the response from our local community was the most significant from any community across Sydney.

“In fact, on the issue of the approval process and adequacy of the draft EIS, 75 per cent of the 846 submissions were from the Blue Mountains.

“Unfortunately, the submission report largely repeats the justifications that were included in the draft EIS.

“For example, there is no action on the community concern around the need for a curfew, although some mitigation measures have been suggested.

“However, I still feel this will place an inequitable burden on the people of the Blue Mountains and Western Sydney, with the potential to significantly impact quality of life, create sleep disturbance and ongoing health risks.

“I want to thank those who raised their voices. I know you did so because you wanted to be heard. So too, did I.

“I will be calling on federal agencies to engage in dialogue with our Council on this issue as a matter of urgency, because the outcome remains unsatisfactory to our community.”