THERE’S a lingering odour around Howlong and it has nothing to do with the stench that could emanate from a proposed compost plant.
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No, what’s really on the nose is the fact that more than two months after the Joint Regional Planning Panel first deferred a decision on a compost plant, Howlong residents are still none the wiser as to whether the facility will go ahead.
Odour, air quality, traffic, management of the plant and whether the proposed site would be on or near land identified for Howlong’s future growth are all factors being considered by the JRPP. Chair Gordon Kirkby is right in saying it’s a decision that shouldn’t be rushed, but it’s also something that shouldn’t be put on hold simply because members of the planning panel have to catch a flight back to Sydney.
In June, Howlong residents were told a delay in reaching a decision was influenced by Mr Kirkby and another panel member Mark Grayson experiencing flight delays into Albury due to fog. On Tuesday, Mr Kirby said panel members didn’t have enough time to deliberate before they had to catch flights back to Sydney.
Pardon the pun, but that’s rubbish.
Surely it wouldn’t hurt members of the panel, with the exception of long-time Corowa councillor Bill Bott who already lives locally, to spend a night or two in our region to better understand the potential impact of their decision. No one wants a decision to be made on a whim, but Howlong residents don’t deserve to be kept in the dark any longer than necessary.
A precedent was set four years ago when the the JRPP ruled against a compost facility going ahead at Gerogery. Landowners and nearby residents turned up to the hearing at Culcairn in 2013 and learned the decision that evening, meaning Howlong residents have had to wait more than 60 days longer for an outcome this time around.
Cleanaway ultimately appealed that decision, with no luck, to the NSW Land and Environment Court and whatever way the JRPP rules on Howlong this time around, an appeal seems likely.
Albury Council has provided Cleanaway with a back-up option if the bid to build a compost facility at Howlong is thrown out. The council has agreed to investigate the compost facility being built within the Albury local government area, including the city’s existing waste management centre.
It’s a mature outlook from Albury on what’s been an, at times, messy affair.
