Glendell determination | Statement from NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee

Statement from NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee

The decision of the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) to refuse the Glendell Continued Operations Project and associated modification to the Mount Owen Continued Operations consent jeopardises hundreds of jobs, half a billion dollars in investment, and demonstrates everything that is still wrong with the NSW planning system.

The Glendell Project would have secured nearly 700 jobs, delivered over $500 million in capital investment and provided well over $300 million in royalties to the people of NSW.

This refusal comes after three years of rigorous assessment by the Department of Planning involving 15 NSW Government departments and agencies. This process determined the project could be approved. As part of the IPC public hearings process, the Commission also received over 800 public submissions, with over two thirds supporting approval

Despite this, the project has been refused by the delegated authority of a three-person IPC panel, acting on behalf of the NSW Government, with no accountability to either the government or the public.

The ongoing ability of the IPC to freelance planning decisions is of great concern. The NSW Government has left the economic future of regional communities to the mercy of an unelected and unaccountable body, with no obligation to abide by any of the policies of the elected government of the day.

This is an absurd approach that risks investment and jobs and begs the question- who sets planning policy in NSW – the elected government or the IPC? 

ENDS

Contact: Brad Emery