An outspoken animal activist has questioned why Hilltops Council is still considering an application for a new piggery in Harden after the NSW Environment Protection Agency (EPA) stated they could not approve the proposal after conducting a review of information provided by Blantyre Farms.
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Piggery opponent and founder of the “Say No To Blantyre Farms In Harden” Facebook group Lisa Ryan is confident the application is in jeopardy after the EPA’s determination.
“The EPA has not given its approval to the project which is a necessary step in approving a development application.
“This is a big deal in the piggery application process and will make it hard for council to approve the application,” Ms Ryan said.
Before approving an application, council must get General Terms of Approval (GTA) from authorities.
The relevant authorities for the proposed piggery are the EPA, the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) and the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI).
Both the EPA and the OEH stated that they could not approve the piggery.
Hilltops Council was unavailable for comment on what the EPA’s determination means for the development application.
In a letter to the council, the EPA stated that if additional information was provided to them they “would be prepared to review its current position regarding the proposal”.
Similarly, in a statement to the Harden Murrumburrah Express, the OEH said they have requested more information.
“OEH has sought clarification and further information on a number of these issues from the applicant. At this stage this further information is yet to be provided,” a spokesperson said.
Owner and operator of Blantyre Farms Edwina Beveridge claims the farm is in the process of providing the necessary information.
“Blantyre is working to provide additional information to OEH and the EPA,” Mrs Beveridge said.
On top of the EPA and OEH developments, it is understood that council is currently reviewing the findings of their Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel (IHAP).
The panel met on August 15 to review information and inspect the site and had a month to provide their recommendations to council.
The panel’s aim was to resolve conflicting information received from Blantyre Farms and opponents and to close the knowledge gap within council on the issue.
It is expected that the panel’s findings will be made public in the coming weeks.
For now, the future of the proposed Harden piggery remains uncertain.
