News Service from House Harris

NSW: Newborn baby found wrapped in blanket at tip

SYDNEY, Feb 11 AAP - A dead baby boy, just days old and wrapped in a blanket, has been found on a conveyor belt among household waste at a Sydney rubbish tip.

A woman working at the waste management centre at Spring Farm near Narellan in southwest Sydney made the gruesome discovery about 10.30am (AEDT) on Wednesday, police said.

The child is believed to have been among waste collected from a bin in nearby Campbelltown, Catherine Field or Bringelly overnight, Superintendent Ian Foscholo told reporters.

He declined to confirm how the baby died or whether it had any visible injuries, but indicated the baby was very young.

"There is forensic evidence with the baby which suggests that it is newborn,"he said.

"There was some material there with the baby that would indicate that it is newborn."

Police hold concerns for the welfare of the mother and are urging her to come forward or for members of the public to help identify her.

Supt Foscholo said staff at the waste depot were "doing okay" after the tragic discovery.

"Waste comes in (to the depot in) large trucks," Supt Foscholo said.

"There is a process there that involves the trucks dumping the rubbish into bins.

"The bins are then cleaned out by a conveyor belt system and the rubbish then goes into another system.

"Eventually it ends up on a conveyor belt and is sorted by staff ... it (the baby) was on the conveyor belt."

Objects found near the body have given investigators clues as to where the baby came from.

Supt Foscholo said the body was believed to have arrived at the depot only a couple hours before it was found.

He declined to comment if the body had begun to decompose.

A post-mortem examination will be carried out on the baby's body and a report will be prepared for the coroner.

The discovery comes 16 months after a toddler was found dead in a suitcase dumped in a duck pond at nearby Ambarvale.

A woman has been charged with murder over the death of two-year-old Dean Shillingsworth, found in October 2007.