Brent Heber, Greens candidate for Barton, had this to say about the recently released Environmental Impact Statement on the state governments “Westconnex tollroad project…
“The Baird Govt’s EIS is as token as their business case, pages and pages of cotton wool to hide the lack of substance at the heart of it all. Duncan proudly points to the lowering of emissions forecast from the motorway but we have to thank the traffic forecasts for this – which shows patronage lower than the financially irresponsible Cross City Tunnel.
“Why so few cars? The $6 fares on the parking lot we call the M5 will drive road freight onto Stoney Creek Road and fudge those numbers, so the pollution will still be here in St George just not directly attributable to the motorists who can actually afford to ride on the gold plated tollroad.
“What data they collect on pollution being emitted is fudged as well, as they refuse to measure the fine particulate matter that is directly linked to health and breathing problems, instead they only measure the larger particles the size of dust motes that our bodies filter for the most part anyway. Proper electrostatic filtration of all nine stacks would add only a small expense to the gigantic budget for this project if implemented during construction by expert contractors.
“Let’s not forget NSW has lost 17 politicians to corruption charges over the last few years and 16 of them were from the Liberal National Coalition. The lack of scrutiny and oversight on a project this size is outrageous and this EIS and it’s cynically timed christmas release is yet another example of Mike Baird’s team running from proper oversight.”
*Comments and opinions are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of St George Greens or Greens NSW