News that a "once-in-a-lifetime" $500 million 'green energy' project was coming to Narromine had, but the community response has been far from what the proponent or Narromine Shire Council might have hoped for.

Asia Pacific Waste Solutions(APWS) Pty Ltd last week hosted two public information sessions at the Narromine USMC as an initial step to establishing the Narwonah Renewable Energy and Circular Chemical Project (Narwonah waste proposal).

The first meeting on Tuesday 28 November with around 150 people, a large crowd by local standards, with questions being fired from around the room directed to both the representatives of the APWS and the Mayor of the Narromine Shire Council, Cr Craig Davies.

The proposed high-tech facility will be built in two stages on land bought from the Narromine Shire Council on Craigie Lea Lane, nine kilometres south of Narromine.

Mark Lamb, CEO of Macquarie Darling Association (MDA), opened the session by explaining that the MDA is not only about water but also the circular economy, which involves the reuse or regeneration of waste products or materials. In this case the project plans to turn waste streams into 'green energy' and useful chemicals.

Mr Lamb encouraged questions during and not just at the end of the session. “If you have a burning question, do not hesitate to ask.”

No sooner said, community member Mark Johnson asked whether the Narwonah proposal was "a done deal.”

“This is just a proposal,” came the response from Mr Lamb, “It takes a lot of steps to meet the standards of the EPA (Environmental Protection Authority), so it is not a done deal.”

He emphasised that the process of the plant ‘is not incineration’ and added that the experts will explain when they give their presentations.

“There has been a lot of misinformation put out on social media, and you will find that out tonight," said Cr Davies, “This is not an incinerator; this is not the burning of waste, and we need to understand that from the very outset.”

“How long has the Council known about this?," asked a community member. Cr Davies assured the audience that the Council had been working with AWPS for some time.  Due to commercial sensitivities, the Mayor advised he could not inform the public any earlier than this past week.

Clearly unhappy with that response, the meeting became rowdy with many more questions and passionate outbursts from the audience. 

People expressed concerns about having 'a garbage tip' in their 'back yard’; that would jobs not given to locals; that it would ’totally affect lifestyle’ and generate gas emissions; and otherwise ‘impact on the community’.

Local resident Helen Jeffries asked Cr Davies who makes the final decision on the project.

“Certainly not Council," he said. "This (proposal) will go to the EPA, the Department of Planning and the Department of the Environment before any approval.

"It is a state-significant project and is taken out of Councils’ hands.”

Project proponent in the hot seat

Mr Johnson asked the proponent of the project and the Director of AWPS, Tracy Dignum, if he had approached any other towns and had been ‘knocked back’.

Mr Dignum replied, “Yes, we did approach other towns, but the sites were unsuitable. It was Inland Rail coming through that helped make my decision to come to Narromine.”

“We need to look at best practices to solve the problem with waste in Australia,” he said.

He reminded the crowd that Australia can no longer send waste overseas and that there is a major push to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. 

“The alternative is what we are trying to bring here,” he said. “There will be regional waste to start with, but it is not waste in the way you may think. It is processed and transported on a train in a sealed container. It then goes into a sealed process,” he said.

In response to questions around the impact on local roads, Mr Dignum said that there will be a Voluntary Planning Agreement (VPA) with Council, which involves a commitment to fund various road upgrades.

In relation to local employment, Mr Dignum said he met with the principal of the Narromine High School to discuss what he would like to do regarding training for students to prepare them for employment but this did not satisfy many of those present.

To be continued 

Community member James Hamilton said he was at the meeting to get information on the project and would like the session to continue. His comments received a round of applause and appeared to calm the mood of the meeting.

Part Two of this story will feature the second meeting held on Wednesday 29 November which included information from technical experts.