Concerned Farmers and Community members gatherers in the centre of the main street in Parkes on Sat 28th and Marched Together to Cooke Park where Speeches where lead by Parkes Farmer Sharon Wood.
NSW Farmers say plans to pollute rural and regional communities with Sydney’s rubbish should be immediately rejected.
The proposed Parkes Incinerator would burn 700,000 tonnes of Sydney’s red-bin rubbish each year if approved, and NSW Farmers Vice President Rebecca Reardon said it was totally unacceptable to force any regional community to be the dumping ground for Sydney waste if they did not agree.
The Parkes region contributes significantly to NSW’s wheat, barley, oats, canola and pulse crops. Its mixed farming systems also support substantial sheep grazing for wool and meat.
The significant number of heavy vehicles on council roads, or more freight movements on rural rail infrastructure already in need of major upgrades will decimate our regions and agriculture’s economic return to the state budget.
Mrs Reardon spoke at the Parkes Farmers & Community March and said the people of Parkes felt they were being forced to become Sydney’s dumping ground.
“When these projects were proposed for Western Sydney, there was a chorus line of Labor MPs very vocal in their opposition,” Mrs Reardon said.
“Why should rural communities be forced to host projects that are considered unacceptable for urban centres, particularly when these same regions produce a lot of the state’s food and fibre?” “There’s also significant concerns for public health, and the impact on the food and fibre grown in these communities.
These projects should be immediately ruled out without question.”
Phil Donato MP marched alongside local farmers and said “It’s critically important that people power unites in Parkes to oppose this project because the Government will take that into account.”
“We really need to continue and persist with that pressure to push back on this proposal and send a message loud and clear to the state government that Parkes does not want this facility in their community.”
