The Social and Economic Section is one example of what the City of Sydney calls the "profound inadequacy of the EIS”. WAG was and remains very critical of the separate Social and Economic studies for the M4 East. But for the M5, there is considerably less depth or assessment of signficant impacts on residents, students, workers and businesses. The study is barely evaluative at all and seems to almost be an afterthought done by AECOM staff who recognised that a box needed to be ticked.

WAG objects to the impact the WestConnex project, including the New M5, on flooding impacts and hazard risks, and the failure of this EIS to properly investigate and report on these risks.

The scope of the modelling for the impact of construction as assessed in the 150 page Chapter 9 of the EIS and associated 298 page Appendix G does not allow for the full, system-wide effects of the construction traffic to be analysed sufficiently. Increasing the scope would go some way to identifying the true impact of the construction on traffic, and would also better allow the cumulative impacts of the project on traffic and transport to be gauged.

WAG objects to large-scale negative impact that WestConnex, including the New M5, will have on biodiversity, and the failure of this EIS to properly consider those impacts.

WAG objects to large-scale destruction of heritage areas and buildings cited in the New M5 EIS that WestConnex, including the New M5, will cause. Given the disastrous heritage impacts of the proposed M4 East on Haberfield, the heritage aspects of this project have been to some extent overlooked.

WAG consulted with an environmental scientist with professional experience in the regulation of NSW landfills to prepare this part of our submission and have identified a large number of serious issues with the proposed remediation of the Alexandria Landfill site, the planned construction of the St Peters Interchange on this site, and AECOM’s assessment of it:

Kingsgrove Beverly Hills

The impacts on Kingsgrove and Beverly Hills are of grave concern to WAG. Attacks by the government on the WAG group are designed to hide from the residents of South West Sydney the impacts on their communities. We are concerned, for example, about the residents of Stoney Creek Road who have never been properly consulted or informed about the increase traffic and pollution, they will face as a result of the New M5. Details of information about increased traffic should have been explicitly communicated to them in a range of appropriate community languages.