IT'S back to the drawing board for Tamworth Regional Council's $15 million organic waste recycling facility.
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Approval of the controversial project was delayed by Northern Regional Planning Panel chair Paul Mitchell, who felt parts of the project "lacked transparency" and "detail".
"We came to the decision last night that we weren't properly informed and we needed to be," he said. "It is difficult, but everybody recognises these are important decisions that affect people's lives.
"Some of the questions that objectors raised we couldn't answer with sufficient confidence, so there's a need for some things to be more closely looked at."
The facility would allow the council to divert kitchen scraps and garden waste, and materials from food production like offal [animal organs] from landfill.
The three-hour meeting on Wednesday night was attended by a number of adjoining landowners who raised concerns about odour, biosecurity risks and a lack of transparency in the management of the project.
There was also skepticism as to how the council-run facility would be regulated.
Mr Mitchell said he wanted evidence of more "transparent regulation" so that the community could trust it would be properly managed and operated.
"The community deserves to have complete trust the facility will be run in a proper way," he said.
Tamworth Regional Council declined to respond to specific questions from the Leader, but in a statement the council's water and waste operations manager Dan Coe said they would continue to work through the development approval process.
"Northern Regional Planning Panel Chair Paul Mitchell has indicated we will receive the panel's formal findings and requests for additional information in the coming days," he said.
"Once we have that we will be working to provide it to the panel as soon as possible."
In a letter to the planning panel, the council offered to have an additional condition placed on the project to allay fears about groundwater contamination from leachate.
It agreed to a condition that would ensure regular groundwater testing downslope of the leachate dam. The monitoring should help minimise potential contamination impacts.
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The organic waste recycling facility is expected to come back before the panel in a couple of months, after the council has addressed the issues highlighted by panel chair Mr Mitchell.
"There will certainly be opportunity for people to address the panel again, the council may re-exhibit the application but that hasn't been determined," Mr Mitchell said.
"We didn't set a definite time frame, but I think it would be a number of months to do all of the things we have asked."
The next public meeting will be advertised on the NSW Planning website.
Madeline Link
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
