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ANY move to resurrect the proposed motorsports complex at Yerriyong has to be lodged by the end of this week.
Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis said a timeframe for a final decision on the proposal by proponents Motorcycling NSW was Friday.
Despite the organisation saying last month it would walk away from the $19 million complex, Mrs Sudmalis said Motorcycling NSW was still keen to be involved in the project but it’s members had given its committee a final deadline of this Friday.
Mrs Sudmalis met with a number of stakeholders, including local businesses, Motorcycling NSW and federal Minister for Regional Development Fiona Nash on Monday morning.
The Gilmore MP believes there is an alternative mitigation process that was not put to the proponent on a document presented to Motorcycling NSW just 10 minutes prior to the last Joint Regional Planning Panel meeting into the project.
“There were three different strategies within that legislative document given to the organisation but one was not presented to it and that’s what we wanted to meet about and put on the table today,” Mrs Sudmalis said.
She said the $9.5 million of federal funding was still on the table and believed the “blockage” by the state government’s Department of Environment and Heritage could be overcome.
“The state government is the stumbling block at the moment,” she said.
I think we have to have a reality check here, this is important not just for this project but projects of the future.
- Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis
“The EPBC [Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act] has to be co-organised in the permission process. The Office of Environment and Heritage is the first stage. They have to refer it to the federal government.”
Mrs Sudmalis said the orchid was on the bottom level of threatened species. It is called vulnerable.
“This plant exists from Tin Can Bay in Queensland all way to Mornington Peninsula in Victoria,” she said.
“How on earth can a project like this be stopped by a plant like that?”
Mrs Sudmalis said there was latitude that would enable the state government to look an alternate approach.
“Especially when there is only 0.009 per cent of natural land mass being used by this project when the Shoalhaven has 74 per cent coverage of state forests, national parks and crown lands.”
Mrs Sudmalis said there was a possibility for the proponent to put money aside for the state government to invest in highly vulnerable areas.
“This site is scrubby, dry, sclerophyll. The only time you ever see this orchid is after a heavy downfall,” she said.
“It occurs all around the Eastern Seaboard, so in this case what comes first?
“I’m looking after the biodiversity of human beings in employment potential, not just the biodiversity of a plant species.
This project is so important for our region.
- Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis
“I think we have to have a reality check here, this is important not just for this project but projects of the future.
“On the EPBC website there is no conservation plan for this particular species, there is no restoration plan because - guess what - it’s not that threatened.”
She said one of the parties to attend Monday’s meeting included a further possible investor who was willing to back the project.
“This project is so important for our region,” Mrs Sudmalis said.
Mrs Nash said the $9.5 million of federal funding was still on the table and this was an opportunity for significant investment in the region.
“We have $9.5 million federal funding to see this project go ahead,” she said.
“We know when we invest in regions it builds confidence and we know that’s exactly what this project will do here.”