In today's Sydney Morning Herald:

The risk of saying goodbye to less than $1 million helped sway a Sydney council to allow a synthetic sports field on a flood basin close to an endangered forest and national park.

Despite initially refusing to replace natural grass with plastic at the sensitive site, Ku-ring-gai Council officers later wrote in a report that some $929,000 from state government and community grants intended specifically for a synthetic field “cannot easily be overlooked”.

Cited in the report before the October 2020 council meeting was the conditional support of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). But while the environmental authority was supportive of the upgrade, it was concerned about synthetics.

In a September letter it had asked for a detailed analysis of the environmental, social and health impacts, among others. It said there was a danger of chemicals flowing into nearby Quarry Creek, urban heat concerns for the native flora and fauna - including the vulnerable powerful owl - and potential risk to the critically endangered Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest.

Resident Mignon Booth said, from an environmental perspective, the plan was “highly risky”.

“To put it near a waterway, to put it near endangered flora without knowing exactly what you’re doing, it couldn’t be in a worse spot,” Ms Booth said, adding there were unknown factors about the use of synthetic turf due to a dearth of thorough research.

Planning Minister Rob Stokes hopes an investigation by the state’s chief scientist will address the unknowns, with similar concerns raised in an October report commissioned by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE).

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