February 13
Today, Community Environment Monitoring publishes its report on pollution and environmental regulation of the WestConnex’s St Peters Interchange.
The NSW government promised two parks at the St Peters Interchange. One was supposed to open in 2020, the other in 2023. So far no open space of any kind has been delivered to compensate the community for the loss of hundreds of mature trees, landscapes of widened roads and motorways and years of pollution impacts during construction.
The findings of this report are relevant to the recently announced parliamentary Inquiry into the Impact of the Rozelle Interchange. They also require action and response from the NSW Minns government.
The report calls for Transport for NSW and the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to come clean on pollution at the Interchange and for Transport for NSW to provide a full explanation for the reasons for the delays in work to remediate the site and for the poor quality of its environmental monitoring.
It outlines pollution incidents and concerns and a litany of failures in compliance with monitoring requirements at the site. The report adds to earlier reports by CEM’s research director environmental scientist Charlie Pierce.
Inner West Council raised concerns and asked for more information about pollution at the Interchange in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Two LNP Ministers failed to respond at all. One provided a woefully inadequate response. So far, the situation has not improved under the Minns government but there is an opportunity for the responsible Ministers in the NSW government to do better.
It recommends a number of reforms including:
- Better resourcing for the EPA which needs to be more transparent and accountable
- Companies should be more accountable for the claims in their Environmental Impact Statements for major projects including transport ones. The work of consultants who profit from Environmental Impact Assessments should be rigorously reviewed.
- Transport for NSW is a government agency and should be strictly accountable for failures to comply with environmental and other requirements. There needs to be an investigation into its environmental management including the adequacy of its environmental management.
For further comment contact:
CEM Research Coordinator – Charlie Pierce
charlie.pierce.newtown@gmail.com
0435289423
CEM Chairperson : Chris Nash
Chris@chrisnash.com.au
0408270747
Image taken at St Peters Interchange by CEM in Feb. 2024. Note small height of palm trees and other bushes compared to promotional videos.
CEM image of remedial works at St Peters Interchange due to defects by CPB Contractors. Edge of HillTop Park at right of screen. Feb. 2024.