Tuesday 27 February 2018

There is support for the inner city to retain some level of the working harbour but the government wants to significantly intensify port operations at Glebe Island despite it being adjacent to Pyrmont, Australia’s most densely populated neighbourhood.

Massive cargo ships will load bulk construction materials to store onsite to be delivered to the CBD by truck for construction projects. No real controls are proposed to protect residential amenity with ship and truck movements allowed to expand to meet demand and 24-hour, seven days a week operations. There are no bans on ships running generators while berthed or leaving lights on at night. Residents already experience impacts from existing port operations and the White Bay Cruise Ship Terminal and the proposal will result in a drastic increase in operations.

Approving plans in the Bays Precinct before the promised strategic plan for the area is piecemeal and it is of great concern that the Port Authority of NSW is putting forward, assessing and approving this proposal. My submission called for an independent environmental impact assessment process that imposes enforceable conditions on the operations including night and weekend bans. Thanks to all those Pyrmont residents who made submissions to the Port Authority. My submission is HERE.