Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Monday 7 January 2019
Australia In Decline: hearing nature's death rattle
The
Guardian, 26
December 2018:
More than 50 Australian
plant species are under threat of extinction within the next decade, according
to a major study of the country’s threatened flora.
Just 12 of the most
at-risk species were found to be listed as critically endangered under national
environment laws – the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act
– and 13 had no national threatened listing at all.
The scientists behind
the research, published in the Australian Journal of Botany this month, say the
results point to a need for re-evaluation of Australia’s national lists for
threatened plants.
It is the first major
assessment of the status of Australia’s threatened flora in more than two
decades.
Plants account for
about 70% of Australia’s national threatened species list, with 1,318 varieties
listed as either critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable.
Among those
on the list are acacia pharangites (wongan gully wattle), banksia
vincentia, caladenia amoena (charming spider-orchid), caladenia
busselliana (Bussell’s spider orchid), calochilus richiae (bald-tip
beard orchid) and eremophila pinnatifida (dalwallinu eremophila).
The research team
assessed species that met criteria for either a critical or endangered listing
at national or state levels to track their rate of decline.
They did this by
reviewing all available literature on the plants – including recovery plans,
conservation advice and peer-reviewed research – and conducting interviews with
125 botanists, ecologists and land managers with expertise on particular
geographic regions or species.
The study examined 1,135
species, including 81 that were unearthed through the interview process as
being eligible for a critically endangered or endangered listing but did not
have one.
It found 418 plants had
continued declines in their population and a further 265 species had
insufficient monitoring information available to determine their status.
The scientists concluded
that 55 species were at high risk of extinction within the next 10 years, with
fewer than 250 individual plants or only a single population remaining. They
found just 12 of the most imperilled species were listed under the EPBC Act as
critically endangered and 13 had no listing at all.
They said there were
also 56 species of plants currently on the critically endangered list that they
assessed as having no documented declines or that were stable or even
increasing.
“This points to a clear
need for re-evaluation and standardisation of current lists, and consistent
application of IUCN listing guidelines,” the study states.
“There is also a need to
collect systematic, repeatable field data for most of [the] species, to back up
suspected and projected declines and provide a stronger basis for investment in
recovery actions.”…..
Labels:
environment
Sunday 9 December 2018
Loss of nearly every wild oyster in the Richmond River estuary more than two years ago became a catalyst for action
Echo
NetDaily, 5
December 2018:
Recently Rous County
Council voted unanimously to prepare a proposal for a $150 million bid to the
State’s Snowy Hyrdo Legacy Fund to ensure long term water security, natural
flood mitigation and improved river health for the Northern Rivers region.
Rous County Council
Chair, Cr Keith Williams, said the idea for the Northern Rivers Watershed
Initiative was born with the realisation that flood risk and river health are
interrelated. ‘Slowing water flow in strategically selected streams by
revegetating and fencing off stream banks, can reduce downstream flood peaks,
improve water quality and provide habitat,’ said Cr Williams after the vote.
‘Similarly, by better understanding ground water flows and recharge zones, we
can target efforts to revegetate and increase soil moisture retention and
improve infiltration rates in important ground water source areas.
‘By having a wholistic
view of water within the combined Northern Rivers catchments the Initiative can
deliver multiple benefits from the same dollar of investment.’
‘It would be a fitting
legacy of the Snowy River Scheme to restore some of the natural function of the
Northern Rivers of NSW and ensure a sustainable water supply for the region.’
Labels:
environment,
Northern Rivers,
Richmond River
Tuesday 18 September 2018
When a prime minster fails to grasp the basics of climate change policy.....
The
Australian Prime Minister for Fossil Fuels and Liberal MP for Cook, Scott Morrison, has been repeatedly insisting
since he came to office on 24 August 2018 that Australia is on target to meet
its Paris Agreement greenhouse gas emissions targets.
Apparently he
is telling journalists that “the
business-as-usual model gets us there in a canter”.
Business-as-usual of course includes those cuts to climate change mitigation programs Morrison made as federal treasurer - including no further funding for the Abbott Government's Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) which has so far failed to purchase enough abatement to outpace Australia's emissions growth.
Those agencies outside of Morrison's ‘magic circle’ are quite frankly contradicting his prediction of success.......
The COAG
Energy Security Council’s Energy Security
Board expects that Morrison’s refusal to revive National Energy Guarantee
legislation will see the electricity sector “fall short of the emissions
reduction target of 26% below 2005 levels”.
According to
Dept. of Environment and Energy total
annual emissions for the year to December 2013 fell by 0.8%.
No report was issued for the year ending December 2014, however annual
emissions rose by 0.4% for the year ending December 2015 and annual
emissions for the year to December 2016 rose by 1.4%.
While the Dept.
of Environment and Energy's, Quarterly
Update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory: December 2017 stated:
Annual emissions for the
year to December 2017 are estimated to be 533.7 Mt CO2 -e. This represents a 1.5% increase
in emissions when compared with the previous year. Over the year to
December 2017, there were increases in emissions from the stationary energy
(excluding electricity), transport, fugitive emissions, industrial processes
and product use, waste and agriculture sectors. These increases were partially
offset by a decline in emissions from the electricity sector. The annual
increases in stationary energy (excluding electricity) and fugitive emissions
were largely driven by an increase in LNG exports. [my
yellow highlighting]
The
independent Climate
Works Australia reported on 6 September 2018:
Australia is not yet on
track to meet its emissions reduction targets under the Paris Agreement but
there are many opportunities to still get there, according to new research
released today.
The ClimateWorks
Australia report, Tracking Progress to net zero emissions, found Australia
needed to double its emissions reduction progress to achieve the federal
government’s target of 26-28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and triple
progress to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
The report found
Australia’s emissions were 11 per cent below 2005 levels in 2017 but have been
steadily increasing since 2013. If Australia sustained the rate of improvement
in emissions intensity it had achieved between 2005 and 2013, it could meet the
government's 2030 target. But progress has stalled in most sectors and reversed
overall. [my yellow highlighting]
Climate Works’
latest report, Tracking
progress to net zero emissions: National progress on reducing emissions across
the Australian economy and outlook to 2030, was released in September
2018 and although cautiously optimistic it doesn’t suggest that a Morrison
Government would be able to just canter towards the commitments given in Paris:
This report uses
findings from the Deep Decarbonisation Pathways Project (DDPP) and compares
these with the Australian Government's emissions data and projections to
examine whether Australia is on track for a net zero pathway and for its first
commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change to reduce emissions by
26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. It assesses recent progress since
2005 and the outlook to 2030.
In common with 179 other
countries who ratified the Paris Agreement, Australia has committed to keeping
global warming well below 2 degrees, aiming to limit warming to 1.5 degrees and
to reach net zero emissions. For developed countries like Australia, a 2 degree
limit is generally accepted to mean reaching net zero emissions by 2050 – the
majority of states and territories have agreed to this goal. Limiting global
warming to well below 2 degrees or 1.5 degrees would require an earlier date.
Australia’s current
emissions reduction target is 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. This
is less ambitious than the Climate Change Authority’s recommended target range
of 45 to 65 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 for Australia’s contribution to
a 2 degree goal (CCA 2015). To make sure the world is on track, all countries
in the Paris Agreement have been asked to consider whether their current target
is ambitious enough.
We already know
Australia can reach net zero emissions by 2050. The Pathways to Deep
Decarbonisation in 2050 (DDPP) report (ClimateWorks et al 2014) identified the
emissions reductions potential to put Australia on a pathway to net zero in 2050
while the economy continues to grow…
In 2017 Australia’s
emissions were around 11 per cent below 2005 levels. This is an increase from
their lowest point in 2013. Overall progress was due to strong reductions in
the land sector, while emissions rose in most other sectors. Although there
were improvements at the whole of economy level and in some sectors,
improvements on average were not equivalent to the pathway to net zero
emissions by 2050.
Emissions are higher in
buildings, industry and transport than they were in 2005. Emissions are lower
in the land sector, with the reduction being larger than increases in other
sectors. Electricity emissions fell slightly…
There were times of
reasonable emissions intensity improvements in industry and buildings but, as
with the electricity sector, these improvements then slowed or reversed. This
occurred alongside the repeal of the carbon price and related policies. Energy
intensity improved in these sectors, suggesting better energy efficiency, but
not at the rate needed for net zero. And in industry, some of this improvement
was driven by declines in energy-intensive manufacturing….
Without further policies, Australia will not be on track
for the net zero pathway or the Government's 2030 target. ClimateWorks’ research previously
identified potential emissions reductions on the net zero pathway and this
report shows where this potential is not yet being unlocked. The national
process of developing Australia’s long term emissions reduction strategy
provides an opportunity to unlock this remaining potential and get on track to
achieving net zero emissions by 2050, as do similar processes in many state and
territory governments. [my yellow highlighting]
Sunday 12 August 2018
Anthropomorphic Global Warming in Australia 2018
Australians have been told repeatedly that global warming leading to climate change is real.
The continent is becomng dryer, record air and ground temperatures are no longer novel, heavy rain events are predicted to become more destructive, mass flora and fauna extinctions are expected and the coastline is beginning to erode faster than at the historical rate.
It's not just happenng in Australia, other continents are also experience climate change and, the one factor most have in common is generations of ever increasing greenhouse gas emissions produced by both households and industries in metropolitan, regional and rural areas.
Everyone bears some responsibility for where the world finds itself......
In the first
quarter of 2018 Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions will be over MT 7.3 CO2-e higher than the national Paris ERT commitment made on our behalf by the Australian Government.
Over one
quarter of Australia’s CO2-e budget for 2013 to 2050 has already been
spent in the last 4.75 years.
AUSTRALIA’S ANNUAL
EMISSIONS, CALENDAR YEAR TO SEPTEMBER 2017*
* This graph includes both published Government NGGI data and Ndevr Environmental projections for Q4/FY2017 and Q1/FY2018
BY SECTOR 2005-2017
~~~~~~~~~~~
World-wide, land
used for non-animal and animal-based agriculture in 2017 was estimated to
produce 24% of all global greenhouse gas emissions.
In Australia agriculture
was responsible for est. 85.03 CO2-eMt or about 16% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2013:
66.3%
from enteric fermentation in ruminant livestock (eructation and flatulence)
15.5%
from agricultural soils
10.8%
from prescribed burning of savannas
3.9%
from manure management
2.4%
from liming and urea application
and
the remainder from rice cultivation and field burning of agricultural residues.
Total
greenhouse gas emissions from world-wide food systems in 2012 contributed between
19% to 29% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. By
2030 the combined greenhouse gas emissions from global food production is
expected to double.
~~~~~~~~~~~
National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting, Australia’s highest 10 greenhouse gas emitters 2016–17
Labels:
business,
climate change,
energy,
environment,
extinction,
farming,
industry,
mining
Wednesday 8 August 2018
Great Barrier Reef Foundation: waiting for the inevitable crash
Mainstream
media reports that Australian Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Wentworth Malcolm Turnbull (former director Goldman
Sachs), Minister for Environment and Energy & Liberal MP for Kooyong Josh Frydenberg (former director Deutsche
Bank Australia) and Chair of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation & Member of
the Business Council of Australia John
Schubert (former chair Commonwealth Bank) met on 9 April 2018 to discuss the
allocation of a grant valued at in excess of AU$487.6 million to the
foundation.
It was also
reported that no
officials from the Department of the Environment and Energy were present at
that meeting when the grant offer was made and apparently accepted.
Less than ten weeks later the grant was formally approved
without meeting all relevant provisions in the Commonwealth
Grants Rules and Guidelines 2017.
The Great Barrier Reef
Foundation with a staff of only six full-time employees now has no more
than 6 financial years to spend this large sum, which represents est. 69.66 per cent of funds held in the federal government operated Reef Trust since 2014 and 97.52 per cent of additional funds received by the trust on 29 April 2018.
Leaving the Reef Trust with an unspecified amount to fulfil other commitments over the next six years.
Due to obvious time constraints, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s board and corporate 'advisers' need to have
a detailed financial and project action plan for 2018-19 immediately - if not
sooner.
I suspect that I am not alone in waiting for waste of resources, duplication of effort, poorly targeted projects, lack of verifiable outcomes and other instances of mismanagement to emerge over time, given the
slapdash way this grant was put together.
Australian Government, GrantConnect:
GA ID: GA9190
Agency: Department of the Environment and Energy
Approval Date: 20-Jun-2018
Publish Date: 12-Jul-2018
Category: Natural Resources - Conservation and Protection
Grant Term: 27-Jun-2018 to 30-Jun-2024
Value (AUD): $487,633,300.00 (GST inclusive where applicable)
Ad hoc/One-off: Yes
Aggregate Grant Award: No
PBS Program Name: DoTE 17/18 Program 1.1: Sustainable Management of
Natural Resources and the Environment
Grant Program: Reef Trust
Grant Activity: Reef Trust grant to the Great Barrier Reef
Foundation
Purpose: The project will deliver activities which are consistent
with the purposes of the Reef Trust Special Account Determination to achieve
the Reef Trust Objectives and assist to protect the Great Barrier Reef World
Heritage Area.
Internal Reference ID: 100000001841
Confidentiality - Contract: Yes
Confidentiality Reason(s) -
Contract: Other: Aspects of the
Co-Financing Plan and the Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Plan
Confidentiality - Outputs: No
Grant Recipient Details
Recipient Name: Great Barrier Reef Foundation
Recipient ABN: 82 090 616 443
Grant Recipient Location
Suburb: Brisbane
Town/City: Brisbane
Postcode: 4000
State/Territory: QLD
Country: AUSTRALIA
Grant Delivery Location
State/Territory: QLD
Country: AUSTRALIA
Australian Government, Department of the Environment
and Energy - Marine:
Third
Sector, 7
June 2018:
The Great Barrier Reef
Foundation (GBRF) has confirmed one of its board directors will step down as he
faces criminal charges for cartel conduct.
Stephen Roberts, an
investment banker and GBRF board director, has been charged by the Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for allegedly playing a part of a
criminal cartel during a $2.5 billion deal.
ACCC Chairman, Rod Sims,
said: “These serious charges are the result of an ACCC investigation that has
been running for more than two years.”
The charges, which
included other banking chief executives and senior staff, were laid by the
Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and will be determined in court.
Criminal
charges relating to an alleged cartel by Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and the ANZ
have been formally laid in relation to alleged cartel arrangements relating to
trading in ANZ shares following a $2.5 billion institutional share placement in
August 2015.
Friday 3 August 2018
Supermarket giant Coles’ “bagflip’’ did not go down well and the company was stopped in its tracks
This was typical of the response to the Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd end of July 2018 announcement that is was indefinitely suspending a full ban on the use of free plastic shopping bags in its stores.
The Daily Examiner, 2 August 2018, p.13:
Supermarket giant Coles’
“bagflip’’ in continuing to hand out free reusable plastic bags is a perplexing
move.
After spending the past
month getting its customers used to the idea there would be no more single-use
bags, Coles management has caved in to the tantrums of some customers unable to
get their head around the notion of doing something to help the environment or
pay up.
Not surprisingly the
environmentalists are outraged.
For a start the
so-called reusable plastic bags are just a step up from the tissue-thin,
single-use bags clogging landfill and choking marine wildlife.
The smart thing about
the proposed bag ban was that the supermarket was using a price signal to
reinforce the change, a language its bargain-hunting customers were sure to
understand.
No longer.
The customer has come
first, ahead of the environment, good planning and common sense.
Without a price tag,
customers are going to treat the reusable bags just like the old ones, which
will add a splash of colour to the litter.
It has the same logic as
trying to improve a child’s behaviour by giving in to its demand.
The “child” in this case
does spend millions of dollars in your store, but with Woolworths continuing to
charge the 15 cents for resuable bags, shoppers didn‘t have many options.
By midday on 2 August 2018 Coles reversed its backflip and set a new deadline for stores - 29 August 2018 is now the deadline for handouts of free reusable plastic shopping bags.
Hopefully by the beginning of 2019 even reuseable plastic bags will no longer be available for purchase.
Labels:
Australia,
environment,
pollution
Thursday 2 August 2018
NSW Roads & Maritime Services finally come clean: We don't give a damn about any of the concerns Woombah & Iluka residents have about our asphalt plant, it's only Pacific Complete's bottom line that matters
ROADS and Martime
Services has revealed it will build at least two asphalt batching plants near
the Pacific Highway, most likely between Tyndale and the Iluka turnoff, next
year.
Pacific Highway general
manager Bob Higgins said the RMS has pressed the pause button on construction
of one plant at Woombah, but the need to supply the Glenugie to Iluka Rd
turnoff section with 170,000 tonnes of asphalt would require two plants.
He said the RMS would
review the supply strategy for the manufacture and delivery of asphalt on the
stretch of highway upgrade after protests from the Woombah community.
But Mr Higgins said if push came to shove when the RMS
review decided on locations, residents’ objections would take second place to
the technical needs of the project. [my yellow highlighting]
What a travesty Pacific Highway Upgrade community consultations are cannot get much clearer than this.
I'm sure local residents will not be pleased to have their fears confirmed.
I'm sure local residents will not be pleased to have their fears confirmed.
Whether he meant to or not, Bob Higgins
has probably just cemented the proposed Woombah asphalt batching site as a March 2019 NSW
state election issue in the Clarence electorate for both the NSW National
Party and the Berejiklian Coalition Government.
No-one likes to be told their valid concerns - about environmental impact, road safety, air quality and potential reduction in tourism numbers which underpin the local economy - don't matter to the state government down in Sydney.
BACKGROUND
No-one likes to be told their valid concerns - about environmental impact, road safety, air quality and potential reduction in tourism numbers which underpin the local economy - don't matter to the state government down in Sydney.
BACKGROUND
Labels:
#BerejiklianGovernmentFAIL,
environment,
health,
Iluka,
NSW Nationals,
Pacific Highway,
roads,
safety,
Woombah
Tuesday 31 July 2018
Pacific Highway Upgrade 2018: the saga of the unwanted Woombah asphalt batching plant continues
In its latest letterbox drop to Woombah and Iluka communities on 30 July 2018 NSW Road and Maritime Services (RMS) has admitted that, despite a commitment to review the proposed site of the Woombah temporary asphalt plant servicing the Iluka to Devil’s Pulpit section of the Pacific Highway upgrade, it still intends to place 4,000 tons of asphalt on this site by Christmas 2018.
As if from these photographs below locals could not already tell that the plan to use the site for asphalt batching remains active - despite strong community opposition based on road safety, air quality, health and environmental concerns.
Photographs supplied anonymously |
This turnoff is the temporary Pacific Highway-Garrets Lane intersection created in March 2018 by NSW
Roads and Maritime Services and Pacific
Complete as the highway upgrade proceeds along a 27 kilometre stretch.
It is also the intersection now used by heavy vehicles accessing the proposed site of the temporary
asphalt batching plant.
It
is an intersection and road Pacific Complete is assuring local residents has been
designed and built in accordance with the design criteria.
As the Iluka and Woombah communities were not supplied
with a detailed traffic audit for the road design or the change to road design
which is set to occur in 2019, they have to take the consortium's word that this is so.
If the complaints by some local residents of being harried by impatient construction truck drivers as they attempt to negotiate the Pacific Highway-Garrets Lane turnoff are any indication, between now and Christmas there may be another collision there.
RMS and Pacific Complete have promised to hold information sessions with the two communities again - one version states sessions commence on 30 July 2018 and another rather obscure document states they commence on 30 August 2018.
July 30 has come and gone without that particular information session taking place.
The deadline for submissions on the temporary asphalt batching plant is 10 August 2018.
Given that deadline, either RMS and Pacific Complete are the most appalling managers of the community consultation process or they are trying to limit the ability to submit fully informed written responses by10 August.
The suspicion that National Party cronyism has played a part in the choice of site is starting to be quietly muttered under the breath as well. It seems Lower Clarence River folk have long memories.
This botched Iluka to Devil's Pulpit highway construction planning and community consultation is likely to be on the minds of quite a few Woombah and Iluka residents as they cast their votes at the NSW state election in March next year.
RMS and Pacific Complete have promised to hold information sessions with the two communities again - one version states sessions commence on 30 July 2018 and another rather obscure document states they commence on 30 August 2018.
July 30 has come and gone without that particular information session taking place.
The deadline for submissions on the temporary asphalt batching plant is 10 August 2018.
Given that deadline, either RMS and Pacific Complete are the most appalling managers of the community consultation process or they are trying to limit the ability to submit fully informed written responses by10 August.
The suspicion that National Party cronyism has played a part in the choice of site is starting to be quietly muttered under the breath as well. It seems Lower Clarence River folk have long memories.
This botched Iluka to Devil's Pulpit highway construction planning and community consultation is likely to be on the minds of quite a few Woombah and Iluka residents as they cast their votes at the NSW state election in March next year.
Labels:
#BerejiklianGovernmentFAIL,
environment,
Iluka,
Pacific Highway,
roads,
safety,
Woombah
Thursday 19 July 2018
It's business as usual as Trump appointees dismantle US environmental law and regulations
5 July 2018:
Scott Pruitt,
whose tenure at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was
tarred by corruption scandals and hostility to environmental regulation, offered his resignation today, effective July 6.
The EPA’s new
interim administrator, Andrew Wheeler, is a former coal lobbyist,
profiled by DeSmog.
DeSmog's prior profile
of Wheeler reports:
Wheeler is the latest former staffer of climate
change denier James Inhofe to join the EPA. Prior to
joining FaegreBD Consulting, Wheeler worked as majority staff
director, minority staff director and chief counsel at the Senate
Committee on Environment and Public Works for Inhofe. He worked in a similar
vein at the Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate Change, Wetlands and
Nuclear Safety under the chairmanship of Inhofe and
also that of George Voinovich. Before that, he worked as Inhofe's
chief counsel from 1995 to 1997.
Under Presidents
George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Wheeler spent four years as a staffer at the EPA's Office of
Pollution Prevention and Toxics before moving on to his position at
the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Until mid-2017, Wheeler lobbied
on behalf of Murray Energy, the nation's largest privately owned coal
company. Run by vocal climate change denier Robert
Murray, the energy company has fought against industry regulation and
climate change mitigation efforts. According to EcoWatch, Wheeler brought in at
least $3 million in income for his firm from Murray Energy.
Murray Energy, while
Wheeler's client, produced an “Action Plan” for the Trump Administration
including complete elimination of the Clean Power Plan, overturning the
endangerment finding for greenhouse gases, and eliminating tax credits for wind
and solar energy. In his confirmation hearing, Wheeler admitted to having seen
the plan.
According to his profile at Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting, Wheeler
“worked on every major piece of environmental and energy-related legislation
over the last decade, including greenhouse gas emissions legislation, the
Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007,
the Clear Skies Act and the Clean Air Interstate Rule.” The consulting firm
also notes that Wheeler has worked on 1998 and 2005 Highway Bill
reauthorizations, the Diesel Emissions Reduction SEP Bill,
and Renewable Fuel Standards. His regulatory work includes “all major
fuel related issues including Refinery MACT, Gasoline sulfur, and
the NSPS program.”
“Andrew Wheeler’s
nomination is very much in keeping with the Trump administration’s agenda of
fossil fuel exploitation and climate inaction,” Michael Mann, a climatologist
at Penn State University told HuffPost.
Read the full article here.
Tuesday 10 July 2018
NSW Berejiklian Government 2018: How not to conduct a community consultation in the Clarence Valley, NSW
The Daily Examiner, Letter to the Editor, 10 July 2018,
p.13:
So Road and Maritime
Services intends to establish a temporary asphalt batching plant at Woombah with
a heavy truck access road crossing Iluka Road approximately 230 metres from the
Pacific Highway T-intersection.
One couldn’t choose a
site more unsafe for private vehicles and more disruptive to tourist traffic.
One that also is less than 500 metres from a waterway which empties into the
Clarence River Estuary.
One couldn’t find a more
inadequate approach to community consultation.
The Pillar Valley
community were given an RMS community information session scheduled to last one
and a half hours in May 2016 ahead of construction of a temporary batching
plant there.
In September 2016 the
Donnellyville community received a detailed 5-page information document at
least a month ahead of construction and this included an aerial map showing
infrastructure layout within the proposed temporary batching plant site. Up
front the community was allotted two drop-in information sessions.
Most of the residents
in Woombah and Iluka appear to have found out about the proposed
temporary plant planned for Woombah in July 2018, the same month
construction is due to start.
This plant will be in
use for the next two and a half years but only a few residents were given some
rudimentary information in a 3-page document and initially the community was not
even offered a drop-in information session.
Perhaps the NSW Minister
for Roads Maritime and Freight, Melinda Pavey, and Roads and Maritime Services
might like to explain the haphazard, belated approach taken to informing the
communities of Woombah and Iluka of the proposed plant.
The people of Woombah and
Iluka deserve better. They deserve a formal information night which canvasses
all the issues, with representatives from RMS and the Pacific Highway project
team prepared to address concerns and answer questions, as well as a
representative of the Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight in attendance as
an observer.
They don’t deserve to be
fobbed off with a quick patch-up, comprising a drop-in information session and
one RMS representative deciding to attend a local community run meeting.
I’m sure that all
residents and business owners in both Woombah and Iluka would
appreciate a departmental re-think of this situation.
Judith Melville, Yamba
It is also beginning to look as though Roads and Maritime Services is only just getting around to meeting with Clarence Valley shire councillors as a group this week to brief them on the asphalt batching plant site.
Monday 2 July 2018
Yet another 'temporary' asphalt batching plant rears its ugly head - this time at Woombah in the Clarence Valley
It would appear that the Berejiklian Government is about to wish a temporary asphalt batching plant on the Lower Clarence River flood plain.
Running for two and a half years day and night.
Two years of bitumen odour from the holding tanks, lime dust from the silo, diesel fumes from the generator, sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides releasing during production - all wafting on the breeze - along with the never ending rumble of dusty heavy trucks belching exhaust fumes.
Then a cleanup of the toxic waste left behind.
With not even the courtesy of a genuine community consultation.
Australian and NSW
Government-RMS,
June 2018:
The Australian and NSW
governments are jointly funding the Woolgoolga to Ballina Pacific Highway
upgrade. Roads and Maritime Services’ Pacific Highway Project Office, Pacific
Complete and its contractor partners are working together to deliver the
upgrade.
To build the upgrade,
the project team will be establishing batch plants along the 155 kilometre
route. These sites will have different functions and will support the building
of the new road.
The project team is
proposing to build a temporary asphalt batch plant at Woombah. The batch plant
would be located on the eastern side of the existing highway about 700 metres
north of the old Iluka Road turnoff. A map has been provided to show the
proposed location of the temporary asphalt batch plant.
This facility would make
asphalt for the upgrade between Maclean and Devils Pulpit. Batch plants are
facilities where raw materials are brought in, mixed together and then loaded
into trucks and transported to site for use.
If approved, we would
start building this site in July, with the batch plant operational by
mid-August 2018. This site is proposed to be operational for about two and a
half years with the land to be rehabilitated after completion in line with the
project’s conditions of approval…..
There would be up to 500
heavy vehicle movements and 100 light vehicle movements per day at peak…..
Typically work would be
carried out during the project’s approved construction hours which are:
9am
- 6pm Monday – Friday
8am
– 5pm Saturday
In areas where residents
live more than 200 metres from the work area, extended work hours are allowed
between 6am and 7am and 6pm and 7pm from Monday to Friday. Additionally, work
outside or normal construction hours is also allowed where the impact to
residents is predicted to be low, including no greater increase in noise levels
than 5 decibels above the existing background noise level.
The batch plant
would need to be operational whenever asphalting work is required on the road.
To minimise the impact on the Pacific Highway and ensure the work sites are
safe, some of this work would be carried out at night. The temporary batch
plant would need to operate at night to support these activities. Residents would
be notified in advance of this taking place.
We are seeking your
feedback on the proposed building and operation of the temporary asphalt batch
plant at Woombah. To have your say, please fill out the attached feedback form
by Wednesday 4 July 2018.
You can return it by:
Email: W2B@pacificcomplete.com.au
Alternatively, you can
provide your feedback over the phone by calling 1800 778 900 (toll free).
Google Earth snapshot of Woombah site and surrounding land, an est. 2.5kms
as the crow flies from the Clarence River estuary and est. 1km from residential dwellings.
Woombah batching site boundaries.
Iluka Road problems
THE safety of Iluka road users is being put at risk
by increasing truck movements to an additional 500 truck and trailers as well
as 100 cars per day. That’s an additional truck or car travelling on Iluka road
at a rate of one every 50 seconds! A situation that will continue for two and a
half years.
The NSW Government has put out a letter seeking
feedback on a proposed asphalt batch
plant at Woombah for the Pacific Highway Upgrade from Mororo to Devils Pulpit.
However speaking with other locals in the Woombah
area I found out quickly that very few residents of Woombah, let alone IIluka
have received this letter. It is something that will affect all the 2500
residents of Iluka/Woombah area, as well as tourists and service vehicles. The
letter has only just been sent out, but the site is already being prepared.
Another case of community consultation and feedback after the fact, and the
decision has been made!
The new temporary turn off from Iluka Rd onto the
highway is already a difficult and dangerous turn-off because of the short
turning lanes, additional turns and give way signs. Along with increased truck
movements and road blockages associated with the construction of the Iluka road
overpass, the dangers associated with navigating this entrance and exit to
Iluka Road has increased.
Now all the traffic for an asphalt batching plant is to also travel on Garretts
Lane, coming from the Old Pacific Highway and crossing Iluka Rd onto this new
temporary turn-off.
This will cause traffic congestion problems for all
Iluka Rd users. It will create further problems entering and exiting the
highway. It will increase that danger of motor vehicle collisions and possible
injury. We must stand up for the safety of our loved ones, our children, and
for the many families who holiday here.
Locating the batching plant where it has its own
dedicated access road to the highway, one which could adequately accommodate
this large number of truck movements is the only sufficient solution. They
should not be placed on busy local roads.
There are several areas, including Mororo Rd, which
have already been blocked to public access, which could easily be fitted out
for this purpose without endangering people.
Also with the plant being on the Western side of
the Pacific Highway, these fully loaded trucks that are all going north will
not have to cross the busy Pacific Highway but instead only need to merge with
traffic. This would also solve the problem
Davild Wilson, Iluka
Labels:
Berejiklian Government,
Clarence River,
environment,
Iluka,
pollution,
roads,
Woombah
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