BY DAKOTA TAIT
The controversial Kurri Kurri gas plant will go ahead, revealed after an email bungle on Monday afternoon.
Key stakeholders found out about the approval when they received an email from the planning portal in error on Monday afternoon.
The Planning Minister has since formally approved the project, ticking off the last hurdle.
It's likely to be Rob Stokes' last action in the role, after the portfolio changed hands in the Cabinet's latest reshuffle.
Gas Free Hunter Alliance's Fiona Lee says it's not a shock it's been announced in the days before Christmas.
"We know that the State Government's trying to hide this approval by announcing it when people are just distracted," Ms Lee said.
"They want to slip it under the radar, they know it's a really unpopular project."
Construction of the new plant is set to begin next year.
The Federal Government's pushed the project as a necessary complement to keep electricity supply stable and affordable.
But Ms Lee says it just doesn't add up with the State's net zero emissions targets.
"We'll continue to try and stop the gas plant from moving ahead, at every stage," Ms Lee said.
"We'll be launching a legal case and looking at every other avenue to have this ridiculous waste of public money stopped."
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| Image credit: infrastructurepipeline.org |
