New South Wales

A $200 million gas-fired peaking power station has been approved for construction at Leafs Gully in south west Sydney, subject to strict conditions.

The conditions which have been placed on the power station cover air quality, noise and visual impacts, wastewater management and revegetation.

The facility has been declared a critical infrastructure project – it will have a maximum generating capacity of 360 megawatts and will not operate for more than 15% of the year. Construction of the power station will take about two years.

The proponent, AGL, has committed to revegetation to improve wildlife corridors on site and will also plant native trees on the station’s northern boundary to screen affected properties. AGL will conserve about 170 hectares of vegetation around the power station to protect large tracts of endangered ecological communities.

A wastewater management plant will mean the project is “zero-discharge”. Water will not be discharged into the local surface water or groundwater system, protecting local water quality.

A sand mining operation planned for Somersby on the New South Wales Central Coast has been rejected by the State Government.

The government has refused an application for the Somersby Fields Project, which would have involved more than seven million tonnes of sand being extracted over 18 years. The development was rejected because of its proximity to a school and its potential impacts on air quality, noise, water and threatened species.

The Department of Planning found the potential economic and job creation benefits of the project did not outweigh its social and environmental consequences.

Residents groups at Somersby had been campaigning for years to prevent the development and they were on hand to hear State Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally, announce the decision during a visit to the Central Coast.

PhD students have until the end of August to apply for a major scholarship to support specialist research into water.

The Professor Peter Cullen Post Graduate Scholarship honours the renowned water scientist, the late Peter Cullen AO.

The aim of the scholarship is to:
- improve the understanding of how rivers, groundwater, wetlands, and estuaries function and respond to enhanced management;
- improve the linkages between water science and water management in NSW; and
- provide research opportunities for water specialists in the state.

The student who wins the award will receive $20,000 a year for the three years of the scholarship. Applications for the scholarship close on August 28 and students can download the application package by going to www.dwe.nsw.gov.au.

The City of Sydney says it is delivering significant environmental projects just 12 months into implementing its “Sustainable Sydney 2030” plan.

The city says global warming is a critical issue and it has set the goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030.

Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, says cities have a crucial role in reducing C02. Ms Moore says they cover only two per cent of the earth’s land mass, but have over 50% of the population and produce 80% of greenhouse gas emissions. She says national governments must work with city leaders to set and achieve meaningful targets to reduce emissions and avert what she describes as “catastrophic climate change”.

Ms Moore says projects already underway to make Sydney more sustainable include:

- improving energy efficiency in the city’s libraries, pools, parks and community centres;
- installing photovoltaic cells on the roof of the Town Hall to covert sunlight to electricity;
- developing plans for “green transformers” – a network of more sustainable decentralised power generators for inner Sydney;
- conducting a low energy street lighting trial with Energy Australia;
- exploring the potential for a new waste treatment facility to divert even more waste from landfill and possibly generate renewable fuels;
- upgrading fleet cars to Toyota hybrid vehicles and purchasing one of Australia’s first hybrid trucks; and
- planting more than 5000 new street trees and establishing an additional 85,000 square metres of green public space.