Cumberland Council has voiced its opposition to a controversial proposal for a food and organics waste facility in Lidcombe, following community outcry.
Plans for an Organics Transfer Station (OTS) at 109a Church Street have again been hotly debated at the latest Council meeting.
In a Mayoral Minute, Mayor Lisa Lake said the Development Application (DA) had attracted a whopping 1900 submissions, with the Lidcombe community outlining their “significant concerns” about the plans.
“One of the matters raised was the lack of direct, formal notification received by residents about this Development Application,” Lake said.
“Many residents complained that they had only learned of this application in the late stages of the public exhibition period, incidentally from social media or by word of mouth.”
If given the green light, 80,000 tonnes of domestic and food organic and garden organic (FOGO) waste is expected to pass through the $5 million-plus Lidcombe facility per year. It would operate 6am to 10pm Monday to Friday, and 8am to 6pm on Saturday.
Lake added that the widespread opposition of many members of the Lidcombe community to the DA has been “heartfelt and overwhelming”.
In response, Lake requested that the General Manager take the steps needed to arrange a draft submission to the Sydney Central City Planning, which would reflect the Council’s opposition to the application on public interest grounds.
“It is clear to me that if we decide to become the advocate in this matter then we can no longer have any role as the elected body in potential administrative functions that may arise from this proposal,” Lake said.
“However, it is my view that the needs of the community to be represented by the elected body in this matter outweigh the need for us to maintain a neutral stance.”
Councillor Kun Huang supported the motion to voice the Council’s opposition to the proposal, saying it is “long overdue.”
“It means that we will learn from the mistakes that we have made in the past and also improve the way that we communicate with our residents in terms of development applications,” he said.
Councillor Steve Christou also backed the Mayoral Minute, but with caution.
“I dare say Madam Mayor, again I’m happy that we’re finally acting for our local residents but you only decided to take this action after Mrs Connelly had stood up in the meeting on Saturday afternoon in front of 300 people and asked us to move a statement and a submission, asking where our position is,” he said.
“We are going to be the food organics wasting dumping ground for all of Sydney Councils… one would think that we have more problems than to take on a waste proposal tip.”
When put to a vote, the motion was unanimously supported by Councillors.
Ellie Busby is a news reporter for Western Sydney Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Hertfordshire and Western Sydney University, she is a journalism Major. Ellie has worked with Universal Media, The Cova Project and for a range of other organisations. In 2024, Ellie was named Young Writer of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.