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Tuesday, July 25, 2017 • Issue 057
PROUDLY INDEPENDENT
www.bluemountainsrecord.com.au
She’s back! Gillard returns to the Blue Mountains for great cause Page 5
Protesters are keeping up the fight against the new airport at Badgerys Creek
AIRPORT ANGER GROWS ERIN MAMO
R
esidents of the Blue Mountains have continued their push against the new airport at Badgerys Creek by turning out in droves at a special Airport Forum on Sunday. Over 250 residents from both the Mountains and Blacktown came together at Blacktown City Council’s Chambers to listen to their Mayors talk about how they will continue to fight the project. Blue Mountains Mayor, Mark Greenhill, said the community should be worried that the World Heritage listing for the Blue Mountains would be under threat should the airport go ahead.
“The World Heritage listing was only granted once the earlier Badgerys Creek airport plan was abandoned,” Cr Greenhill said. “The UN is monitoring it closely and if they pull the listing, then the four million tourists a year that come to the Blue Mountains will evaporate and so will the jobs they create.” Blacktown Mayor, Stephen Bali, called on the Federal Government to give the people of western Sydney the same protection as those in eastern Sydney. “Whether you agree with the airport or not, surely everyone agrees that those living around the proposed Western Sydney Airport should have the same level of protection as those living around Sydney Airport,” Cr Bali said. Federal Member for Macquarie, Susan Templeman was also in attendance at the
Stephen Bali, Ed Husic, Susan Templeman and Mark Greenhill at Sunday’s forum
forum and said the airport project is a vortex that will suck the infrastructure funding from the rest of Australia. “Just think about it, the estimate is $150 billion and the yearly spend for the rest of Australia is $10 billion,” she said. “Just how many other projects are going to be shunted to make way for it?” The politicians are now calling on the Federal Government to re-examine the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Western Sydney Airport as it now stands. Mayor Bali said the current environmental statement is more of a project justification statement than an EIS. “We want the Federal Government to engage with the people of western Sydney in an open, transparent and honest way,” he said.
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