3 days were set aside for the hearing starting Monday 17th Feb. The first day started with a meeting in the Bargo Sportsground Hall presided over by the 2 Commissioners hearing the case (Susan Dixon and Paul Adams) and over 200 residents attended to prove that most Bargo residents are strongly opposed to this development despite the promise of new jobs. Eight Bargo residents were allowed to speak against it and they had done their homework – in particular Chris Barnes and Sue Law pointed out many flaws in the proposals. Afterwards the Commissioners toured the proposed site and access roads.
The 2nd and 3rd days were conducted in courtrooms on Macquarie St, Sydney, with Wollondilly Council represented by their lawyers and about 5 experts in areas such as traffic planning, odour, noise and environmental pollution. The developer had a similar representation. So many points of discussion were had over plans that were passed between the participants.
One of these traffic plans called for a 5m widening of Remembrance Drive at the Wellers Road intersection. In fact a substantial remodelling that includes turning lanes. Quite an expensive proposal when you consider the extensive earthworks and utilities (power poles, etc) that need to be moved. We also noted that the new intersection between Great Southern Rd and the proposed Anthony Road had kerbing and barriers designed to prevent larger trucks (but not smaller vehicles) from entering or exiting from the south ie trucks will only be able to turn northwards and thus forced to use the Wellers Road bridge.
The case did not finish in the allotted time of 3 days. It will be continued at a date to be set but probably in the next 2 to 3 weeks ie by mid-March. Then a written decision will be announced sometime after that. We can only hope that the development is completely rejected, and if not then restrictions are imposed that address most of the residents concerns.