The Chairman of a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into plans to raise the height of the Warragamba Dam wall says future hearings will examine an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) released for consultation last week.

Member of the Legislative Council Justin Field, who sits as an Independent after leaving the Greens, says the EIS is “totally inadequate” and fails to address a myriad of concerns about the impact on the upstream area.

“The 4000-page EIS has taken over four years for the Government to complete but the community will have just 45 days to respond,” he said.

“I look forward to future hearings of the Parliamentary Inquiry into this project, which I am chairing, to deeply interrogate the flaws in this EIS.”

The wall-raising project aims to reduce flood risks in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley west of Sydney, but would inundate cultural heritage sites upstream and affect bushland in national and state parks including 300 hectares in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) earlier this year said it was “unable to support the proposal as it currently stands” due to concerns that cultural heritage values had not properly been taken into consideration.

ICA will examine the EIS and the feedback of all stakeholders, a spokeswoman said last week.

“We remain in favour of exploring all options for flood mitigation, but in a process that means that all the impacts can be understood, costed, and done in agreement with the impacted stakeholders,” she told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“[ICA] remains committed to working with the NSW Government and local government to find solutions to protect lives and property, and ensure that any impacts are fully assessed and addressed.”

WaterNSW will host a web portal and make available supporting information on the EIS, which will be on exhibition until November 12. Details are available here.