Under the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, Ausgrid is the determining authority for this project. This process includes preparing an environmental assessment (Review of Environmental Factors or REF).
The REF investigates the potential environmental impacts associated with the construction, operation and maintenance of the proposed substation.
The REF was on exhibition for comment from 30 January 2019 to 21 February 2019. At this stage, Ausgrid encouraged further feedback from the community through a newsletter, an advert in the local newspaper and social media about the REF display.
Printed copies of the REF were available at North Ryde Library at Ausgrid's office at 570 George Street, Sydney. Interested community members could also view the REF on this web page, where it can still be viewed.
While Ausgrid received no formal submissions during the REF stage, we considered all feedback received via phone calls, emails and face-to-face meetings to date as part of the process of assessing the project for construction approval.
The associated overhead 132,000 volt and underground 33,000 volt cables will be subject to a separate environmental assessment.