“There were concerns expressed about the storage of ammonium nitrate, the transport associated with the proposal and the traffic and road conditions.

“The community expressed a high level of interest and some had a high level of emotional attachment to the former Rosemount winery site, having worked there or had family members who worked there.”

Ms Ekert said people also talked about it being a positive for the town, an appropriate use for an existing industrial site rather than it lying dormant and the potential for future job creation if it became a manufacturing plant after another approval process.

“The suggestion that we are moving Kooragang Island to Denman is untrue,” she said.

“Any manufacturing that we did on the site would certainly not be on that scale.

“It would be an ammonium nitrate emulsion facility similar to facilities in Kurri Kurri and Liddell.”