Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill and Give a Dam campaign manager Harry Burkitt have urged the community to attend a forum protesting a proposal to raise the Warragamba Dam wall.
The forum will be at the Blue Mountains Theatre in Springwood on Sunday, November 10, from 9.30am.
It will be hosted jointly by the mayors of Blue Mountains and Wollondilly shire councils. The councils have formed an alliance to oppose the state government's bid to raise the wall.
Cr Greenhill said he needed the Blue Mountains community "to do what they do best, rise up to signify that we will not accept this proposal"
"It is nothing more than an attempt to open the floodplain up to rampant development," he added.
Cr Greenhill said the loss of UNESCO World Heritage listing was at stake, as well as the extinction of threatened plants and animals, destruction of the last wild rivers in NSW; the irreversible loss of significant Aboriginal sites and breach of native title agreements; and risk to quality of life for residents.
"We need to signal that we stand in solidarity against this proposal."
Give a Dam's Harry Burkitt recently called on Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley to stand up to the bullying from the NSW government and protect one of Australia's most iconic world heritage sites.
"Sussan Ley needs to stop and think before she hands over any more power to the environmental vandals in the NSW government. She needs to realise that doing so would likely end up putting the Blue Mountains on the World Heritage in danger list, causing severe international embarrassment.
"Regardless of whether the federal government decides to delegate approval to the NSW government, the World Heritage Committee will be holding the Australian government accountable."
The former NSW Environment Minister and Minister for Emergency Services, Bob Debus, is guest speaker. Other speakers include Blue Mountains MP Trish Doyle, Gundungurra elder Aunty Sharyn Halls and Saul Deane, from the Total Environment Centre.
The forum is free and runs from 9.30-11.30am, on Sunday November 10 at the Hub on 104 Macquarie Road, Springwood.
