Community Forum Voted Down

This first year on council one of my focus points has been on better access for the community in regards to council's business.
All the ideas that I have put forward to improve consultation have been voted down, the latest being the forum prior to Council meetings. The idea of the forum was to have open access to all 13 Councillors in the one spot for members of our community who feel that the Consultative Bodies do not represent their interests. Community should be invited to share its experiences and contribute ideas for the city's future. Shoalhavens reputation as a Council that doesn't listen will be a difficult one to repair and a years worth of decisions is not the only way to turn that situation around.

I won't give up when it comes to improved community consultation and will keep bringing forward amendments for current practices so that Council can be more inclusive.

Tomerong Tip Part Four the closing statement

Closing Statement


This submission is a brief analysis of the application that has been put forward to the community.
It is plain to see that the application inadequately addresses environmental, land management and traffic issues.

The application if exposed to close and prolonged scrutiny would doubtless reveal additional issues that require addressing.

The Shoalhaven markets itself as a tourism location that has pristine waterways and natural vistas for the visitor to explore and enjoy. The Jervis Bay area, and its catchment in particular, attract many visitors from the domestic and overseas market.

It is an area of high environmental value and a semi-rural community lives here for the peace and quiet of a healthy environment. Given that the environmental credentials of the area have been long established, residents should expect a quality lifestyle, not the potential to be living next to a toxic waste dump.

When asked at a briefing as to why such a sensitive environmental site had been chosen for this facility, one of the joint preparers of the EIS stated "the landfill will be in a mined-out quarry, simple as that".

No consideration for the environmental implications and no confidence generated in the EIS. This is not just about filling an old quarry but changing the topography of the site with a 50 metre hill of toxic waste - in an environmentally sensitive catchment.

The Shoalhaven Greens are also shocked that the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) have deemed the condition of the Princes Highway adequate to support increased volume in heavy vehicle haulage.

This is of great concern as it appears to remove liability from the RTA should there be an increase in vehicle accidents due to increased congestion and the need for transport operators to meet deadlines and fulfil contractual agreements.

The Shoalhaven Greens are of the firm opinion that the only responsible course of action to take in determining the application is to enact the precautionary principle. Refusal of the application should be the recommendation on the grounds that it is not possible to guarantee the health of the environment or ensure as to what may happen in either the short or long term future on this site.

It is not possible to prove that toxins will not escape into the catchment via ground water, surface water or air and in light of this inability to prove that the development would be benign, the application must be refused.

We trust that the relevant Ministers and Panel members will exercise their environmental and social responsibilities and reject this proposal.

Tomerong Tip Part 3- Environmental Issues.

Water Quality and Environmental Issues


Development, particularly industrial development, in sensitive environmental areas must be proven to be benign or beneficial to the biodiversity, water and air quality of that area. This is spelled out in detail in the government's environmental legislation and the South Coast Regional Strategy.

It is clearly impossible for this proposal to meet those criteria and therefore renders the proposal completely unsustainable. The Tomerong quarry is in an area of high environmental significance, being in the catchment of St Georges Basin with the major feeder stream, Tomerong Creek, running mere metres past the quarry and its leachate/holding dams, and the headwaters of Moona Moona Creek and the Jervis Bay catchment.

Any toxic spill from this site would have serious consequences for Tomerong Creek and St Georges Basin.
The applicant cannot guarantee that there will be no leaching of toxins from this site or overflows of
polluted water, especially during extreme rainfall events. The reliance on mechanical pumping devices to reticulate water through the site and maintain leachate pond levels is problematic.

The applicant has already identified issues with ground water moving through the rock profile in locations above the current ground level of approx 13.5 AHD.
The precautionary principle must be applied to protect the already stressed St Georges Basin and its surrounding environment due to the applicant's inability to guarantee no leachate or toxic water overflows from the site. The leachate will be toxic - it is unsuitable for irrigating the site and toxins will be transferred into the catchment if the leachate is used as irrigation via aerosol action of sprayed water containing particulate.

Accidents happen and any pollution event resulting in toxins being released into Tomerong Creek could be catastrophic. St Georges Basin is already pushed to the brink of environmental health by the development
around it. This was recently recognised in the Federal Government's decision to stop any further housing
development within the catchment at the location known as Heritage Estates which would have directly impacted upon St Georges Basin.

To allow a large facility storing toxic solid and liquid (leachate) waste in the catchment of a still healthy, precious natural resource can only be described as epic folly. To quote Council staff, "there is only a very narrow buffer between the quarry and the sensitive water bodies leading to significant waterways".

Tomerong Tip Part 2- Road Issues

Transport and Road Issues


The Princes Highway will act as the principal corridor for waste trucks entering the facility and has for many years been identified as one of the most dangerous roads in the state, with black spots along its length, and is already dangerously overloaded with heavy vehicles.

Moss Vale Road through Kangaroo Valley cannot cope with this traffic, nor can the historically significant Hampden Bridge. The alternative route through Nerriga cannot accommodate heavy traffic over Oallen Ford thus creating an untenable transport situation for the delivery of waste from Wingecarribee Shire as is
proposed in the application.

The bypass of Berry is unfunded and most likely years away, so these heavy trucks will be passing right through the main street of Berry as well as Nowra, Milton and Ulladulla and then they arrive at the junction of Island Point Road and the highway.

This intersection is a major accident hotspot, which has already been identified as dangerous. It is still dangerous despite having been remodelled twice, but not with this proposal in mind. Traffic accidents at the Island Point Road/Princes Highway intersection have in the past caused the Princes Highway to be completely closed for long periods of time, an unacceptable situation for the residents who rely on the highway as the only access route north and south.

More horrendous accidents at this intersection are likely and if the intersection is closed then the alternative truck route to the quarry via Hawken, Pine Forest and Parnell Roads is totally inadequate to deal with such traffic. And although it is not mentioned in the application or is likely to be in any subsequent approval, there will be nothing to stop the waste trucks taking the Hawken Road route at any time as a short cut or when bridge access via Gumden Lane is flooded.

This will result in a quiet residential village with traffic calming devices and a primary school being impacted upon, an intolerable situation even for a short period. Throughout the region our network of roads is considered inadequate, additional multiple heavy vehicle movements will compound the problems of poorly maintained roads and in our opinion present opportunities for more vehicle accidents, specifically with large trucks.

Tomerong Tip- Part One- General Issues

Shoalhaven Greens have created a position paper in regards to the proposed Inert Waste Facility- otherwise known as Tomerong Tip. To make it easy to read in blog format I have seperated it into four parts The first part will deal with some of the general issues we have identified with the proposal.

Waste Management Issues in general


Waste, especially potentially toxic building waste, should be dealt with as close to its source as possible.

Local councils should work with all other levels of Government to minimise waste, not look for sites in other areas in which to dump it.

We find it morally unjustifiable for one community to dump its waste on another.

Every community should deal with its own waste.

It makes environmental sense to keep waste, especially toxic waste, operations small and close to source.

Reducing transport costs and the associated impacts must be a priority in waste management.

Additional freight on the inadequate south coast road network is untenable with unacceptable costs to amenity and to society in a general sense.

The issue of CO2 emissions from additional and unnecessarily long haul trucking has not been addressed in the application.

All levels of Government have an obligation to reduce CO2 emissions at every possible opportunity.

The argument that this proposal will extend the life of existing tips is indefensible.

Firstly the Shoalhaven already trucks its 4000 tonnes of building waste each year to the Illawarra; an appalling situation that puts our waste problems into another area when it should be dealt with here in the Shoalhaven at existing facilities.

Secondly if councils want to extend the lives of their tips they need to enforce adequate waste reduction measures on their communities and governments need to encourage manufacturers to reduce non-recyclable components in their products.

Taxing non-recyclable waste at source of manufactures would be an obvious step.

Leadership in regards to waste reduction is needed, innovation and new methods of manufacturing to reduce reliance on landfill will provide for more economic benefits to Australian people, through the creation of new jobs, compared to the current process of landfilling.

We find a potential conflict of interest in a State Government appointed panel determining this application when the same government will reap the reward of up to $50 a tonne in levies for the waste dumped in the near future and an undisclosed waste levy for outgoing years, two-thirds of which goes straight to Treasury.

If convenient holes in the ground are continually sought to dispose of waste there will never be an
incentive to eliminate waste.

Building waste should be recycled and any waste that is unable to be recycled at a municipal level should be returned to the manufacturer and dealt with at source.

The cost to the community of the Shoalhaven in receiving 100,000 tonnes of building waste to the
very centre of the city each year by road should be enough on its own to reject this proposal out-ofhand.

How will the company monitor loads dumped, ensure no inappropriate material comes in and collect and dispose of it if it does?

The Environmental Impact Statement says that they will but how?

We believe it to be inevitable that inappropriate toxic waste will be dumped on this site.

Impacts on other nearby local industries such as tourism is difficult to measure.

The Shoalhaven has invested significantly into its tourism product and should take a protectionist approach to maintaining its market share of domestic travel.

Part two deals with transport issues

The Cove- Film on Wednesday 7 October 2009 @ Sussex Inlet Theatre

Hello All,

Here is one of those last minute opportunities that come our way.

Sussex Inlet Theatre presents

 The Cove.

Movie starts at 8.15pm but join us for nibbles first at 7.45pm

Tickets are a steal at $10 per head and  transport for the first 20 will be running from Milton Public School carpark at 7.15pm on Wednesday 7 October. Car pool if you can!

This film is not to be missed it is classified M and is not planned to come to Ulladulla.

Click on the title above to link to a movie trailer on YouTube.

                                                                       See you on Wednesday Night.
                                                                      (A Fundraiser for your local group The Shoalhaven Greens)