A government majority committee has admitted the NSW Government’s own environmental and economic assessments being undertaken for the Warragamba Dam raising proposal is inadequate.
The Standing Committee on State Development have requested the NSW Government extend the time for traditional owners to undertake surveys of hundreds of cultural sites that would be inundated by the proposal, as well as recommending the cost benefit analysis informing the dam raising be released.
GIVE A DAM Campaign Manager, Harry Burkitt, said: “A Government majority committee has admitted the NSW Government’s own environmental assessments is inadequate.”
“The committee has hit back against Infrastructure NSW’s secrecy surrounding internal costings for the dam, recommending the cost benefit analysis be made available for scrutiny by parliamentarians.”
“We commend the Government MPs who have taken a stand against the reckless approach of the Berejiklian Government to this project. We watch with a keen eye to see if these recommendations will materialise.
“However, we are disappointed the committee has recommended that legislation to allow the flooding of the Blue Mountains National Park be rushed through the NSW Parliament before an environmental impact assessments has even been completed.”
Gundungurra Traditional Owner, Kazan Brown, said: “The Government committee has recommended more time be allocated to cultural heritage surveys. We hope this means the Government will give us more than the 32 days provided to date to survey over 350 kilometres of shoreline that would be inundated.
“We await the Government’s cultural heritage consultant (Niche) to inform us of the extended survey times.”
The full committee report can be found at https://bit.ly/2OhzzHZ