And the tale of Rous County Council decision making under new pro-dam majority continues......

Echo, 21 February 2022: 

During last week’s Rous County Council (RCC) meeting, Cr Big Rob spoke of contact he had with Professor Stuart White regarding the proposed Dunoon Dam. 

 Professor White is the Director of the Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS in Sydney where he leads a team of researchers who create change towards sustainable futures through independent, project-based research. 

 With over twenty years experience in sustainability research, Professor White’s work focuses on achieving sustainability outcomes at least cost for a range of government, industry and community clients across Australia and internationally. 

The Echo spoke to Professor White who made a late video submission to Rous that missed the deadline. A representative of Rous said it was too late to be screened in public access and was ‘forwarded to all Councillors on the morning of the Council meeting for their info’. The rep also mistakingly thought the video was a submission from the Northern Rivers Water Alliance who already had a space in Public Access. 

Rous County Council meeting 

During the meeting Cr Rob did not give Councillors all of the information he received from Professor White. 

At the meeting, Cr Rob said: ‘I circulated an email overnight relating to the experts that have been relied on – Professor Stuart White for example. You know, his position was the cost and when I made inquiries with Professor White, he finally agreed that yes, that dam should be considered. So if you take the cost out of it, then his position [is] all options on the table, the dam must be considered because that is one of the options.’ 

The Echo asked Professor White about his conversation with Cr Rob because Cr Rob’s comments seemed to be at odds with the information Professor White has been giving other interested parties. 

‘I have not spoken to Cr Big Rob,’ said Professor White. ‘I only had email correspondence. 

‘My position on the Dunoon Dam is clear and I’ve been public about it: it is too expensive, too risky, not useful for the purpose it is intended for, and not needed within the planning horizon. This is before considering the environmental and Aboriginal heritage risks.’ 

Time to rule out dam 

Professor White said that this does not mean the Dunoon Dam, or any supply option should not be considered and investigated alongside other options. ‘It is just that under any reasonable analysis it would be rejected. The proponents have already had a chance to make their case, at great public expense, and my view is that this case has not been made, so it is now reasonable to rule the Dunoon Dam option out.’ 

‘My understanding of the decision by Rous last year was to reject it primarily due to the Aboriginal heritage considerations, which are of course very important and remain very important.’ 

The Echo does not know if any Rous Councillors saw this submission before they voted 6 to 2 to put the dam back on the table.  [my yellow highlighting]

BACKGROUND

NORTH COAST VOICES, FRIDAY, 18 FEBRUARY 2022 

Rous County Council and that Dunoon Dam proposal now risen from the dead

Rous County Council and that Dunoon Dam proposal now risen from the dead

 

In 2014 Rous County Council (RCC) adopted its Future Water Strategy which recommended detailed investigations to assess the suitability of increased use of groundwater as a new water source, and if groundwater was not suitable, investigate complementary options such as water reuse and desalination.

After completion of this investigation Rous produced the original Future Water Project 2060 which did not prioritise groundwater use, reuse of already available water or building a desalination plant/s.

Instead it chose another option – the 50 gigalitre Dunoon Dam, with the concept design indicating an initial capital cost of approx. $220 million.

“In considering options for the future, Rous County Council conducted extensive assessments to weigh up environment, social and economic impacts. The result of these assessments indicate the Dunoon Dam is the preferred long-term water supply option when compared to demand management and water conservation, groundwater sources and water re-use”.

It is worth noting that the proposed Dunoon Dam would be the second dam on Rocky Creek thus further fragmenting this watercourse. The first water storage is Rocky Creek Dam which will continue to operate if the Dunoon Dam was built. Rocky Creek Dam does not have an outlet structure so it does not provide releases for downstream flows. [NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, 2020]

By 2020 this incredibly flawed second dam plan still relied on the widely discredited ‘offset’ scheme as a workaround for the widespread level of environmental destruction, significant biodiversity & species local population loss and, for the drowning of land sacred to the Widjabul Wia-bal People and the desecration of highly significant cultural sites.

Rous authorized preliminary investigation of the Dunoon Dam project in mid-2020 allocating a $100,000 operating budget.

However, the Widjabul Wia-bal, local residents in Lismore Shire and many people in the three other shires within Rous County Council (Byron, Ballina & Richmond Valley) remained concerned with Rous’ choice – the Future Water Project 2060 Public Exhibition Outcomes revealed that 90% of the 1,298 submissions received by 9 September 2020 expressed concerns about the Dunoon Dam proposal.

In March 2021 Rous was reconsidering its earlier Dunoon Dam decision and by 21 July it had voted 5 to 3 to remove the Dunoon Dam from its Future Water Project 2060. At that time a second public exhibition from 1 April to 24 May 2021, this time of the revised Future Water Project 2060, was put in place which resulted in an RCC digital file of supporting submissions 1,754 pages long and confirmed that voiced public opinion was still against building the Dunoon Dam.

By 16 December 2021 Rous County Council had authorised “the General Manager to cease all work on the Dunoon Dam and provide a report on the orderly exit from Dunoon Dam as an option in the future water project, including revocation of zoning entitlements and disposal of land held for the purpose of the proposed Dunoon Dam”.

There the matter should have rested, but after the December 2021 local government elections there was a changing of the guard at Rous Water and six of the eight current sitting RCC councillors are pro-dam.

This led to the unedifying sight on 16 February 2022, of Rous County Council by a vote of 6 to 2 vote reinserting the Dunoon Dam proposal into the revised Future Water Project 2060. No genuine forewarning of what that first RCC meeting of 2022 would contain, no prior consultation with Widjabul Wia-ba elders on the Item 12.1 motion, no community consultation.

The community scrambled to respond. So on the day RCC did hear objections to Item 12.1 from Hugh Nicholson, a previous Chair of Rous Country Council and Friends of the Koala representative Ros Irwin.

A young Widjabul Wia-ba woman, Skye Roberts, addressed the councillors as a “custodian” of the land. She spoke with conviction, determination and, clearly informed all present that: the proposed dam was sited within the large tract of land between three ancient mountains and that land was “sacred land” to all the Widjabul Wia-ba; this included Channon Gorge, the waters that ran through it and the wider dam site; the stone burial mounds which would be submerged by dam waters were part of the circle of cultural connection between land and people; men’s places & women’s places were on land to be flooded; and that land connects to living culture.

The message she carried for her grandmother and mother fell on predominately deaf ears and it was ‘ugly Australia’ which voted the dam back into future planning on that Wednesday in February.

Rous County Council already has before it the Ainsworth Heritage “Dunoon Dam: Preliminary Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment for Rous Water, May 2013” which can be read in digital form or downloaded from:

https://issuu.com/jwtpublishing/docs/ainsworth-heritage-preliminary-cultural-heritage-i.

It also has before it the SMEC “Dunoon Dam Terrestrial Ecology Impact Assessment, Prepared for Rous Water November 2011”. An assessment of which can be found at:

https://waternorthernrivers.org/ecological-impact/

For a brief summary of some of the technical flaws in the Dunoon Dam preliminary investigation:

Dunoon Dam: 4 Risks & Considerations by Water Expert Professor Stuart White - Feb 2022

 

Banyam Baigham, the Sleeping Lizard, returned to the Widjabul Wia-bal Traditional Custodians

An excellent example of natural justice for the Widjabul Wia-bal Traditional Custodians and genuine recognition of their connection to country and culture by Lismore City Council. Well-written and empathetic journalism by Eve Jeffrey.

Echo NetDaily, 14 July 2021:

Everybody (almost) hands up! Councillors Vanessa Ekins, Darlene Cook, Elly Bird, Eddie Lloyd, Nancy Casson, Adam Guise and Neil Marks, vote to hand back the Sleeping Lizard to the local mob. Councillor Bill Moorhouse voted against the motion.

In an emotional and historic vote, Lismore City Council last night passed a motion to hand back Banyam Baigham – Sleeping Lizard, known as the North Lismore Plateau, to the Traditional Custodians.

Lismore Mayor, Councillor Vanessa Ekins, spoke at length about the significance of handing back the Council owned land.

Representatives from the local mob including Uncle Mick Ryan, Aunty Marie Delbridge, Aunty Thelma James and Mindy Woods, and North Lismore Plateau Protection Association Inc. spokesperson Dot Moller, took the opportunity to speak in favour of the motion during public access.

The authority and standing to speak for Country

Uncle Mick Ryan said he had both the authority and standing to speak for that country.

‘At the outset, I say to you all that tonight is an historic moment. Grasping this monumental opportunity is a real positive action, more than just empty words.

‘This is a very big step by our community for justice and reconciliation. For all of us, Aboriginal and non-indigenous alike.

‘Not supporting this hand back will just be a continuation of all the injustices people have suffered through massacre, dispossession, stealing of their children in the 200 years of the discriminatory policies enacted by colonial, state and Commonwealth governments.

‘What happens tonight will reflect not only on the Council but the wider community.

‘I believe it will not only be a tragedy but an opportunity lost. There is no question the land to be handed back has been identified as containing some of the most significant and sacred sites within the Bundjalung nation.

‘My responsibility as a senior elder of the Bundjalung nation is toward the protection of ancestral lands and all the animals, plants and people who dwell within.

‘Let’s commence this process of reconciliation and recognition in a meaningful way to right the great injustice, for Council to listen carefully to what I have said and did a proper thing.

‘We Aboriginal people have a strong tradition embedded in our culture of sharing and caring and welcoming.

‘Go beyond the personal politics and point-scoring.

‘All of you see the demand for supporting this historic occasion and supporting the hand back of our sacred land to the rightful landowners,’ said Mr Ryan.

A deep affinity with particular areas of land

Also speaking for the Bundjalung was Mindy Woods who said that Traditional Custodians have a deep affinity with particular areas of land. ‘Much of our sense of identity is derived from it,’ she said.

‘One area is not exchangeable for another, unlike those of Western land systems. We recognize the cultural, spiritual and historical significance of Banyam North Lismore Plateau.

‘This land is steeped in our history, our culture, our spirituality, and our very existence. This is your history.

‘We support and hope to celebrate the motion that custodianship of Council-owned land on North Lismore Plateau be returned to the Widjabul Wia-bal clan group.

For you, our Councillors, this is a significant decision, but a small and vital step to a long journey towards genuine recognition, reconciliation, protection and celebration of our history,’ she said.

‘We extend our thanks and extend our hand to join you on this journey.’

The Sleeping Lizard

Cr Ekins, who moved a motion that Council hand back Council-owned land on the North Lismore Plateau to the Traditional Owners, was very passionate in her address to the chamber, imploring all councillors to vote in favour of the motion.

‘This is a pretty important decision that we’re making to heal Country.

‘We’ve been talking about the North Lismore Plateau and development on it for 20 years. We’ve spent many years in consultation with the Aboriginal community about the significance of that land. And we know that the site is really significant to the Aboriginal community. It’s Sleeping Lizard Hill, it’s well documented and known to us.

‘We need to hand back Council-owned land to the Traditional Custodians. It’s a really small but significant gesture. And it links Lismore with the National Native Title process that’s going on around us everywhere.

‘A Native Title claim was lodged in 2013, and what that claim has done for the Widjabul Wia-bal Custodians, it has recognized that there is connection for Widjabul Wia-bal people to the North Lismore plateau, going back time immemorial.

Cr Ekins outlined the distant and recent history of the land and concluded that the best use for that land is that it be handed it back to the care and control of the Widjabul Wia-bal Traditional Custodians. ‘It’s a pretty easy decision tonight Councilors, we just decide to hand it back.

‘We can’t use this land. We haven’t used it for 40 years, and we’re unlikely to use it for another decade, but it’s really important to the Widjabul Wia-bal Traditonal Custodians. They can protect it and manage it.’

Just hand it back

‘I’m just asking you to make the decision tonight. Just to hand it back,’ said Cr Ekins.

The motion was passed with votes in favour from Crs Ekins, Lloyd, Bird Marks, Cook, Casson and Guise with only Cr Bill Moorhouse voting against.