Landfill fears push Parkes into a fight over its future

In Parkes, the word landfill is hanging over a town that has long been better known for farming, the annual Elvis festival and its place in Australia’s space story. Now, residents say a proposed energy-from-waste plant could reshape how outsiders see the region, and not for the better.

Why are Parkes residents so alarmed?

The proposal at the centre of the debate would see a garbage incinerator in central western NSW process 732, 000 tonnes of Sydney’s waste each year, turning it into heat, steam and electricity. The developer says the technology is state-of-the-art and will minimise carbon emissions while prioritising human and environmental health.

But the community response has been overwhelmingly negative. Local polls have shown up to 80 per cent of residents do not want the incinerator, and the opposition stretches across the council, Indigenous groups and farmers. In Parkes, that resistance is not just about the plant itself. It is about identity, trust and the feeling that a regional town is being asked to carry a problem created elsewhere.

Councillor Joy Paddison told the parliamentary inquiry sitting in Parkes that town spirit has been dampened and that bonds between neighbours and friends have fractured. She said Parkes has worked hard to build a regional economy based on agriculture, tourism and science, and warned that becoming a destination for hundreds of thousands of tonnes of metropolitan waste transported 580km would be devastating.

What does the landfill crisis in Sydney have to do with regional towns?

Sydney’s landfill capacity is expected to run out by 2030, and that pressure has driven renewed interest in energy-from-waste facilities. But the state government changed planning laws in 2022 to ban these plants in greater Sydney, leaving only four designated regional NSW areas open to development.

That policy choice has sharpened resentment in Parkes. Mayor Neil Westcott said the region felt abandoned and betrayed, adding that the government had not meaningfully engaged with the community. He said the council had asked for clarity from the state’s chief scientist, including access to peer-reviewed research on energy-from-waste technology, but those answers had not been provided.

For many locals, the concern is not only about landfill capacity in Sydney. It is about the fairness of shifting the burden to a rural district that already sees itself as a food-producing and science-linked region. Parkes Clean Future Alliance, a community organisation opposing the plant, said rural communities were being treated as the dumping ground for the city’s environmental burdens.

What are people worried could happen if the project goes ahead?

Opponents raise a broad set of concerns: pollution, soil toxins and high water use. Farmers fear effects on their produce. Small business owners worry that visitors may stay away. Young people, in the language of the submissions, fear worsening climate change.

Karryn Schaefer, chair of the Peak Hill Bogan River Aboriginal Advisory Committee, said the site was a catchment area that likely had Aboriginal occupational sites. She said it would be detrimental to river systems, fauna and flora, and pollinators, with a major impact not only on Aboriginal people and their community but on the whole region.

There are also broader planning questions. Another proposed facility is slated for Tarago, 70km from the nation’s capital, and would process more than 350, 000 tonnes of waste each year. The inquiry has received more than 1, 400 written submissions and is examining technology, emissions, health and environmental impacts, regional planning implications, international best practices and alternative waste management solutions.

What happens next for the inquiry in Parkes?

The Select Committee is bringing its public forum and hearing to Parkes, giving residents a direct chance to speak. Each speaker will have two minutes, and a written suggestion box will also be available for those unable to address the committee. Public hearings began in December, and members have already heard from waste management and environment experts, as well as representatives from councils and other government bodies.

Nichole Overall, the committee chair, said it is critical to hear directly from communities on their concerns and questions. Joy Paddison has urged residents to book a place to speak if the issue matters to them, while Parkes Shire Council is sending councillors to give evidence before the inquiry session.

Back in Parkes, the argument remains unresolved. A town known for space, farming and a country festival is now being asked to picture its future alongside landfill, and whether that future can still belong to the people who live there.