On behalf of Family First I comment on the Sydney Olympic Park Authority Amendment Bill 2009. The purpose of this bill is to improve the operation of certain provisions within the original bill by making provision for the management of noise emissions in respect of major events held at Sydney Olympic Park, and to implement the conclusions of the statutory review undertaken in accordance with section 89 of the Sydney Olympic Park Authority Act, primarily addressing minor incidental matters relating to Sydney Olympic Park Authority’s existing functions.<\/p>\n
The bill provides legal protection for Sydney Olympic Park by allowing major events, such as those designed to attract more than 10,000 patrons, to proceed without the threat of noise-related litigation. The consent authority to the noise management plan is the Director General of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water. The same framework has managed such events as State of Origin matches and the AC\/DC and U2 rock concerts. The amendment will not affect noise management of the Sydney V8 <\/span>Supercars race, which is governed by the Homebush Motor Race Authority Act.<\/p>\n A number of times reference is made to this legislation being consistent with the legislation that applies to Luna Park and Mount Panorama. I wonder whether the Government realises that the neighbours around Luna Park have been fighting that legislation for many years as the park generates unbearable nuisance noise. The fact that the bill provides legal protection for Sydney Olympic Park by allowing major events, such as those outlined so eloquently by the Hon. Helen Westwood, that are designed to attract more than 10,000 patrons to proceed without the threat of noise-related litigation makes me very uneasy. Noise-related litigation is based on appropriate State environmental protection legislation, which should not be evaded. It is there for a reason: to protect people in all the areas around Sydney Olympic Park, as well as the animals and birds living there.<\/p>\n The Hon. Helen Westwood said that it is a joy to live in such a vibrant and noisy place but she did not explain how animals, including the bird species she mentioned, cope with that noise. Significant studies have been conducted on the impact of noise on animals and birds. I remind members of the two rabbits who like to live in burrows in the centre of the home straight on Mount Panorama, which is subject to similar legislation. North Sydney Council has repeatedly threatened Luna Park with either soundproofing or removing a number of attractions. The neighbours say that when Luna Park is operating they cannot entertain in their homes, either indoors or outdoors, they cannot use their balconies and they cannot even open the windows to get fresh air.<\/p>\n The Luna Park executives were found guilty of contempt in their dealings with a residents group taking legal action against them when it sued for alleged breaches of trade practices legislation and under the Crown Lands Act. In fact, Luna Park has always been contentious. Members might not remember, but it was booted out of Adelaide, where Luna Park first operated, precisely because of the noise it made, which bothered nearby residents. Adelaide councils had the sense to run it out of town. So it came to Sydney in 1935, which was fine in the early years because there were no homes close to it on the north shore around Milsons Point. But the name “Luna Park” is now almost synonymous with noise because for the past 73 years it has been embroiled in countless lawsuits over the disruption caused by the noise it generates.<\/p>\n Do we really want any new or amended legislation that permits a well-known noise nuisance such as Luna Park to be used as the model for twenty-first century arrangements at Sydney Olympic Park? I would not inflict that on anyone. There will be a serious loss of amenity for all those living around the park and across a number of council areas. I also find it questionable that the V8 <\/span>Supercars rally races will be excluded from this amendment because they are covered by the Homebush Motor Race Authority Act. It makes the noise abatement laws for the Sydney Olympic Park precinct very fragmented, which does not sound like the best approach to managing any site. In light of the Hon. Helen Westwood’s comments, I hope that residents around the park whose peace is shattered constantly are comforted by the thought that the noise thundering down upon them is different from the V8 <\/span>Supercars and is like the noise from Luna Park.<\/p>\n The people who live around Sydney Olympic Park have the right to be protected from noise nuisance and injury every day of the year, and I do not accept that noise legislation can be gotten around with these kinds of amendments. This legislation is designed to protect the Government, not the rights of residents. I will not support this amending bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On behalf of Family First I comment on the Sydney Olympic Park Authority Amendment Bill 2009. The purpose of this bill is to improve the operation of certain provisions within the original bill by making provision for the management of noise emissions in respect of major events held at Sydney Olympic Park, and to implement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-414235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414235\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}