Shipping the Canberra region's organic waste overseas is among the more radical ideas to emerge from an inquiry into strengthening the ACT's relationship with surrounding areas in NSW.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
An ACT Assembly committee inquiry into regional development will hold its third public hearing on Thursday morning.
At an earlier public hearing, Bega Valley Shire Council mayor Bill Taylor sought support for proposals to upgrade regional transport corridors and the development of Eden Port to enable freight and cruise ship access.
Councillor Taylor said the arrival of about 50 cruise ships a year would create opportunities for land-based tour packages along the south coast and into the ACT and Snowy Mountains.
The development of the port could even create the opportunity for an unusual export from the ACT.
''In Pambula, which is close to Eden, we have a local company that is actually an engineering company manufacturing and exporting to Europe a process that takes putrescible waste and turns it into fertiliser,'' Councillor Taylor said.
''But that leads to the possibility of thinking of all the organic waste from the south-eastern region.
''If there is a market worldwide, particularly in Asia, for organics, whether they be putrescible or just green waste, we should accumulate those and ship them out of Eden. But the bulk of that would come out of the ACT and would certainly give scale to any thought like that.''
At Thursday's hearing, witnesses will include representatives of Canberra Airport. In a submission to the committee, the airport sought recognition as ACT and NSW ''significant infrastructure'' to help facilitate its ongoing expansion.
The airport also wants a reduction in red tape to help deliver ''seamless cross-border public transport'' and better roads for the region.
The committee will also hear from Steve Toms, the NSW government's Cross-Border Commissioner.
Mr Toms is responsible for helping local communities and businesses resolve issues they face as a result of living near the borders of the ACT, Queensland, Victoria or South Australia.
