Councillor Steve Christou has defended locals outraged after a meeting was held completely in Mandarin without any English translation.
The Cumberland City Council, a local government area in Sydney’s west, organised the meeting to discuss the $5 million proposal for a new rubbish tip in Lidcombe.
The proposed Organics Transfer station will process 80,000 tonnes of domestic and food waste per year and operate seven days a week,
Many residents are opposed to the site, given is proximity to homes and schools and the general concern over the odour and increased truck traffic.
The meeting to discuss the issue was conducted by Councillor Kun Huang and held in Mandarin, with non-Mandarin speakers sitting in silence for roughly 20 minutes before a man stood up and asked if they could be provided with an English translation.
Mr Christou, who was also in attendance, spoke up to support this suggestion.
“We’re here because we want the community united on this, not certain sections of the community where we are divided. The whole community needs to be united and informed,” he was heard saying in audio from the meeting, with a man replying, “We did mention that this presentation is in Chinese”.
Councillor Christou told 2GB’s Ben Fordham that his colleague doubled down, believing the meeting to be an example of ‘reverse racism’.
“There should have been a translation offered, but more importantly residents had given up their Sunday afternoon to discuss the issue of a local tip being forced upon their local area,” he said to 2GB.
“Why wasn’t that the sole focus of the meeting and why was a lawyer brought along to discuss a DA proposal that’s very easy to explain to residents, the process and how to object to it.”
The councillor said that the locals’ concerns with there not being a translation were appropriate and fair.
“They could have easily been catered for with an English translation. The gentleman asked nicely, there were a few residents that wanted a translation, why weren’t they accommodated? That’s the whole question here,” he said.
The Organics Transfer Station has been designed to help reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill every year and help NSW achieve better rates of recycling.
The Church Street facility is expected to see 118 truck movements per day and will operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Monday to Friday, and 8 am to 6 pm on Saturday.
A project proposal does state that the effects of traffic, dust, odour, noise and visual amenity would be minimal and unlikely to impact on the surrounding population.
“‘An increase in odour would occur from the southwest to the northern region of the site. It is noted however that the odour levels predicted would remain below the relevant criteria,” the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) said.
“The number of generated traffic movements are minimal and well within the road carrying capacity of the site access road and would not represent an adverse impact upon the operation of the surrounding road network.”
