Did you know that in late 2021, a renewed Temporary Planning Instrument has set stricter limits on new landfills and waste-to-energy facilities in Ipswich?
The new temporary planning instrument replaces the two previous TLPIs that expired early this year and provides interim protections for nearby residents whilst the IpswichCIty Council prepares a new long-term planning scheme.
The expanded controls were in response to the number of complaints from Ipswich residents about the impacts of energy from waste activities in Swanbank, New Chum, Ebenezer, Willowbank and Jeebropilly.
“Local residents have raised concerns about the impacts of waste activities such as landfills on health, air quality, odour, dust and noise, as well as impacts on visual amenity,” Deputy Premier and Minister for Planning Steven Miles said.
“The renewed TLPI covers the Swanbank / New Chum and Ebenezer / Willowbank / Jeebropilly areas and regulates new or changed waste activities, protecting nearby residential areas from adverse amenity impacts by introducing stronger planning safeguards to better regulate waste activities.”
The State Government first introduced the regulations in 2018 to protect Ipswich residents by making a TLPI for the Swanbank / New Chum area and then continued in 2020 with the Queensland Government and Ipswich City Council introducing two TLPIs.
Mr Miles added that the TLPI complements actions that were already being undertaken by the Environment Minister and the Ipswich City Council with the newly formed Waste Management Stakeholder Advisory Group and Odour Abatement Taskforce.
Ipswich Mayor and Chairperson of the Growth, Infrastructure and Waste Committee Teresa Harding said that the State Government’s “strong” stance on energy from waste is a significant win for the Ipswich City Council and community.
“The Deputy Premier has acknowledged the concerns and strong objections from the Ipswich community around energy from waste, and significantly boosted protections to ensure residential areas will not be negatively impacted by these activities,” Mayor Harding said.
Mayor Harding added that the new TLPI “clearly outlines that proposals for energy from waste activities should be no closer than five kilometres to a residential area or a tourism or motorsport precinct.” Whilst it will bring some relief to Ipswich residents, she said that Council will continue to raise the community’s concerns about “energy from waste in Ipswich.”
