RELEASE OF WESTERN SYDNEY AIRPORT FLIGHT PATH EIS

Now that the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Western Sydney International Airport flight paths has been released for public feedback, I urge Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury residents, businesses and organisations to put in a submission.

Since 2015 I have been working hard to highlight the potential impacts a 24 hour airport will have on the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury.

In the lead up to the 2022 election, I committed to greater transparency and better consultation than has occurred over the last 8 years – Labor has delivered on that commitment.

This is the final step in the airport planning where we, as a community, need to come together to present a strong voice to try and minimize the impact of the flight paths on our unique community and environment.

The EIS will be on public exhibition from Tuesday 24 October 2023 until 31 January 2024.

This is the formal process required by the government and gives the community nearly 15 weeks to make a submission (67 working days), significantly longer than the time allowed for the previous EIS.

I am assured that the feedback received during this public exhibition will be considered when finalising the flight paths. It is absolutely vital that our community uses this time to examine the EIS and put in a submission to ensure our views and concerns are taken into account.

The EIS includes assessments of the WSI preliminary flight paths' noise, social and environmental consequences, as well as suggested actions, where possible, to address these impacts.

The EIS will look at the impact of the preliminary flight paths on the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, First Nations heritage, biodiversity, and human health.

Since the release of the preliminary flight paths in June, which I called for to allow us more time to understand the plan, I have received a large volume of feedback from the community, as has the Department of Infrastructure.

I thank everyone who reached out, contacted my office, attended an information session, or completed my survey. I will use the feedback I have already received, and the comments I receive in coming weeks, as the basis of my own submission.

The Department of Infrastructure will be holding more community information and feedback sessions over the coming months. I encourage everyone with concerns or seeking more information to take part and I will be sharing the details of these sessions as they become available.

All members of the public, whether you are a resident, run a business, are part of a community group, can provide feedback on the draft. People can make a submission through one of three ways:

• online through the flight paths community portal at wsiflightpaths.gov.au
• by email to [email protected]
• by mail to the WSI Flight Path Team at GPO Box 594, Canberra ACT 2601.

For people who do not have internet access, two physical copies of the draft EIS will be
available at Springwood and Katoomba libraries.

TUESDAY 24 OCTOBER 2023