Pipeline report to be submitted

By Melissa Meehan
AT THE completion of the Sugarloaf Pipeline Public Hearings many were left scratching their heads as to what happens next.
Upon closure of the hearings chair of the Advisory Committee Kathryn Mitchell recognised that the committee was faced with a “difficult case”.
“One of the things about a hearing like this is that you can go back and forth, but it is about getting a body of information and as we said in the beginning, and others have acknowledged this, this is an expert committee in a range of disciplines,” Ms Mitchell said.
“The committee has the expertise and experience to deal with the matters raised.”
Ms Mitchell said that the hearings had been filled with a lot of angst and emotion and thanked the gallery, submitters and the Alliance for respecting each other’s cases.
She said that the committee would go away and take in all information before preparing a report for Planning Minister Justin Madden.
“It will not be a short report and will be very detailed,” Ms Mitchell said.
“The report will respond in context to the terms of reference and other things as well, we can not ignore some of the things put to us.”
The committee is expected to prepare and submit their report to State and Federal ministers within four weeks, no later than 16 May.
Ms Mitchell said that once the report was lodged, the committee no longer had a role in the project.
“Unlike other amendment panel hearings that expect a panel report to be released within 28 days, this will not be the case in terms of the pipeline,” Ms Mitchell said.
She said the Planning Minister was not obliged to release the report to the public.
“It’s up to him,” Ms Mitchell said.