Residents 'outraged' by appeal over rejected Plasrefine plastic recycling factory
Plasrefine, now rebranded as Repoly, commenced an appeal in the Land and Environment Court on Thursday against the Independent Planning Commission's (IPC's) decision to reject its recycling facility in January.
The proposed factory was recommended for approval by the Minns Labor government, and would have aimed to process 120,000 tonnes of plastic per year, about 10 per cent of the state's total plastic waste.
It was ultimately rejected by the IPC, which found the negative impacts outweighed the benefits, and received almost 3,000 submissions from the community,
On Friday, dozens of residents gathered in Moss Vale, saying they were blindsided by news of Plasrefine's challenge, lodged just 15 days before the appeal process was due to expire.
"I was completely gutted, astounded, I couldn't believe it," said David Baxter, who has lived at a property adjoining the site for more than 50 years.
"We were going to have a celebration picnic at our place because we thought it was over, that we had won and then bang, one email and we're back to square one."
Anna Phillips, one of the main organisers of opposition group Moss Vale Matters, broke down in tears.
"Our community is outraged, we are absolutely distressed that this is what Plasrefine has done," she said.
"It's really, really hard because now everyone has to rally again.
"The state government has done this to us and someone will be accountable because it's not fair."
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure said it was aware of the appeal and would not make further comment while the matter was before the court.
In its decision to shut down the state significant project, the IPC drew particular attention to the risk a fire at the plant would pose to the neighbouring Australian BioResources medical research centre.
Plasrefine relaunched as Repoly on a new website set up this year.
The company declined the ABC's request for comment.
In a mission statement on its website, the company described its plastics recycling process, which converts waste into products like flakes and pellets, as "a necessary waste management infrastructure to meet Sydney's future waste management requirements".
The IPC issued a statement confirming the appeal, in which it indicated impacted parties could join the legal process if they wished.
Ms Phillips said Moss Vale Matters was seeking legal advice and considering its next steps.
"We are here to fight, and we are here to win, and they are absolutely never ever going to be bringing Plasrefine to Moss Vale," she said.
Local MPs including the Member for Wollondilly Judy Hannan, Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman as well as the Wingecarribee Council all formally opposed the planned facility and on Friday reaffirmed their support for the community in opposing the project.
Wingecarribee Mayor Jesse Fitzpatrick said he was optimistic the appeal would not be successful.
"The case was so strong against [it] we really did think it wasn't coming back up," he said.
"People have been fighting this for many years and hopefully this is the last hurdle."
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