Bungonia's Ward family speak out against Jerrara Power plan

Taking a walk with her 14-month-old son, Jock, around her and husband Dave's Bungonia district property, she contemplated Jerrara Power's plans for a waste to energy plant just 2km from their home.

"I thought as long as we had our health, everything would be alright," she told The Post.

"But then I realised there were no guarantees."

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As a mother of three - including Digby, 10, and Harriet, six, she says she's deeply disturbed by research into the impact of waste to energy plants on reproductive health, such as neoplasia, congenital abnormalities, infant death and miscarriage, as well as elevated cancer risks. They are risks her and her husband are not prepared to accept.

The couple run 2500 fine wool merinos on their 526-hectare property established more than 110 years ago by Mrs Ward's family, the Burkitts. Over several years they worked with the Catchment Management Authority to fence off stock from waterways and install troughs to preserve water quality.

In addition, the couple has worked with Australian Wool Innovation to promote the fibre's attributes, including to the fashion industry. Any contamination arising from airborne toxins from the waste to energy plant would have to be declared.

Jerrara Power is proposing to establish the facility at 974 Jerrara Road. It would incinerate up to 330,000 tonnes of non-recyclable, pre-sorted waste annually and convert it to energy for the grid. While company literature stated this would include residual, commercial and industrial waste, managing director Chris Berkefeld told a community workshop on Saturday it would be wholly sourced from red bins.

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He also told the Bungonia forum that the modern technology would remove "100 per cent of toxins," otherwise it wouldn't be accepted by the community. Some 8000 to 9000 tonnes of toxic flue ash would be trucked from the site to a Sydney landfill annually.

At the meeting, Mrs Ward, openly questioned Jerrara Power's statement that there would be "no health effects" given that it also conceded studies had to be completed. Mr Berkefeld reiterated that the EPA and NSW Health had to sign off on any approval.

Scoping for the project is underway. A formal application and EIS to the state government is yet to be lodged.

But the Wards argued that lives and livelihoods would be "decimated" if it went ahead. They described "absolute outrage and disbelief" in the community that a rural zone could be considered for such a development.

"The community is against it. There's not even a minority group in favour," Mr Ward said.

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They questioned whether it could rightly be described as a waste to energy plant. Under questioning from Mrs Ward at Saturday's meeting, Mr Berkefeld said 70 per cent of revenue would come from waste and 30pc from energy. On this basis, the community says the project must be defined as a waste facility, which is prohibited in the RU2 zone.

But Mr Berkefeld believes it is permissable with consent. He told The Post that councils in southern Sydney would be issuing a waste to energy tender later this year. While his company had not spoken to any councils about receiving their waste at Bungonia, he believed NSW was moving towards this technology.

Asked by Mrs Ward whether there was a need for the plant, Mr Berkefeld replied there was in NSW but not in this region. Described as transitional technology, the facility would have a 25-year life.

"The question I ask is do we need Sydney's waste?" Mrs Ward said.

"Similar plants have been decommissioned in other parts of the world. It's a stop-gap technology put in for today not tomorrow."

Mr Ward added that with Bungonia and district relying on tank water, health impacts of any airborne toxins may not be known for several years.

"Surely there's a better stop-gap than destroying the community," he said.

Like others, the couple is worried about the associated 104 truck movements daily. It would add to the 200 already using Jerrara Road each day.

Mrs Ward said she refused to send her children to school in Marulan for this reason. Instead, they travelled to Goulburn. While everyone living along Jerrara Road was dealing with trucks, she maintained there were many other concerns which weren't being answered.

"The trucks are not as significant as health and a project that could totally destroy the fabric of community," she said.

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They're both calling on the state government and the council to deeply scrutinise the application.

"If this goes ahead, there's no way we would stay here," Mr Ward said.

"After the family has farmed this place for more than 100 years, we'd go away with tears in our eyes."

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