PRESENTATION TO COUNCIL 2 OCTOBER 2001
SEE ALSO PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN AT THE MEETING
Over 100 concerned residents and quite a few children today attended the Eurobodalla Shire Council's Environment, Planning and Administrative Services Committee Meeting at the Council Chambers.
The following people made statements of concern to the Council:
Then at a presentation at midday, Nola Graham spoke about the impact of the trucks associated with the plant on the environment and the road system. Nola provided estimated numbers of truck movements in and out of the plant, through Mogo, and on the Kings Highway, and the effects on the tourism industry and local schools.
Finally Glen Klatovski from the Wilderness Society gave a presentation to the Council about the proposed plant (see full text below). Using a video backdrop of the charcoal/silicon plant in WA, he showed Council what the WA plant looked like and explained that although the company claims that forest residue will be used, experience from the WA plant and the wood-chipping industry proves that sawmill logs will be used because that is the most cost-effective way of removing timber from the forest. He also explained the effects of logging on water catchment areas.
He told the Council that they should oppose the development because this area is a tourist area, not an industrial area, and this plant was incompatible with the Council's "Nature Coast" vision.
Glen reminded the Council about the 500 concerned citizens who attended a public meeting at Mogo and the 100 at the Council Chamber today. He called upon the Council to support its citizens in their opposition to the plant.
Glen then called upon the Council to sponsor a meeting in Moruya after the environmental impact statement is received. He asked that the Council notify all ratepayers in the shire and invite them to attend. He also asked that all stakeholders also be invited to attend [including the State Government, as suggested by one councillor].
A motion was then put to the meeting that Council sponsors the meeting as Glen suggested and this was unanimously passed.
The Council graciously gave the Charcoalition permission to videotape the presentations and commented on the good behaviour of the citizens attending.
We had hoped to attend a presentation to the Committee by the company later in the day, but it was unfortunately a closed session.
This is the facility in WA. (points to video screen). The issue here is that the community is being told that the charcoal plant of this region will use legitimate waste lying on the forest floor. The same thing that was told to WA when the plant was established in 1988. What was told to all of us about Eden and the export wood chip facility. Now I don't know how many of you have been to Eden and seen what sort of wood products go into that facility, but I have several times. And I have only seen log trucks not waste timber trucks. And the main reason is that there is no equipment available on the forest floor to take away the legitimate waste. And in fact in countries that do take away the legitimate waste, such as Sweden who burn their plantation waste for electricity to replace nuclear power, it costs A$100 per tonne to take out the waste.
Imagine the branches, the stumps, the extra work required, the different loading materials and also the different trucks. In fact it's very hard to imagine that happening in Australia. And the most amazing fact about the claims of this plant in Mogo is that they will be willing to pay the extra for the waste, despite the fact that they pay $6 a tonne for sawlogs in WA. And I know who is going to pay the difference if it ever happens. Who is going to pay the difference is exactly who is paying the difference for the woodchip operations which were supposed to take the waste from the forest floor for the last 32 years in this region ... and that's the taxpayer. Because it is much cheaper just to log old trees and that's exactly what they will do. Because it is exactly what they have always done.
A low value product like charcoal is not going to pay a premium price for the source. Guaranteed they will not pay it. And the commitment to State Forests in NSW will be to provide them with high quality product at a low price.
The result for this region? At the moment we see between 140,000 and 170,000 tonnes of forest going to sawn timber and woodchips in the southern region. The charcoal plant will take 200,000 tonnes extra. We're looking at a doubling of the current industry. We're looking at timber that wasn't assessed at all in the Regional forests Agreement (RFA) process. In fact no stipulation for a doubling of the industry was made during that process yet there will be no Environmental Impact Study (EIS) done for the timber supply for this facility. The EIS will only cover issues surrounding the plant, not its supply.
[The WA] Government got voted out in February this year in the biggest electoral turn around in WA's history. All based on the commitment by the alternative party that they would stop this sort of industry. The company, and this is a bit of private land they bought, in the 18 months prior to the election when they realised that the mood of the electorate was turning so savagely against them, stockpiled 3 years supply of jarrah logs and bought private land to sit it there. One thing you will notice is how red the wood is. They want ironbarks, bloodwoods - the stuff that isn't really cut down very much at the moment. The stuff that supports vast communities of species, particularly birds because they happen to be the woodland trees with the most flowers.
What I think will come out of this and what from bitter experience, from 30 years of community campaigning against this sort of industry has shown everywhere in Australia without fail, is that this will mean massive increases of trees falling. No doubt about it. Then we have the losses for the Eurobodalla Shire, the Nature Coast.
And I congratulate the council on supporting the concept of the Nature Coast because there is no doubt that that is the future of this region. The Nature Coast which has only 99,000 hectares of State forest being logged at the moment, 99,000 is fairly significant, but over 100,000 hectares of forest in interim reserves. What happens when they start to run out of supply? Interim reserves can be reversed without due government process. They just require a minister's signature, at best.
What happens to the water catchments? Water is already a scarce resource for this region. It is an issue on the minds of every resident every summer. Not only will this plant take a significant amount of water out of the total catchment of this region but the logging will wipe out water catchments all over the region and the downstream effects for oyster farmers, dairy farmers and residents are untold. A recent study showed that quality water catchments are worth $1.6 billion a year to this region. Another study showed that logging, intensive logging, of water catchments particularly the Thompson water catchment above Melbourne loses 50% of water quality after the logging operation. Can this region afford that?
Finally tourism. But not just tourism because this is a special place... it's not just tourism. It's the fact that people in Canberra and Sydney own houses here, they pay rates here and they come here because it is the Nature Coast. All of those residents and all of those visitors come here for specific reasons. Driving in to Moruya this morning, on the crest above Moruya, watching that vast panorama of beautiful forest as you drive into town. This is what they have in WA instead. (Points to Simcoa Plant). Tourism is the present and the future of the region. People don't come to see clear-fell operations, people don't come to see integrated harvesting. They come to see beautiful forests, birds, kangaroos, to drink clean water, go to the beach, feel safe. And that's what the future of the region is.
The RFA has been a failure for this region . It's been a failure all over the country. It failed again last week in Federal Parliament where the Labour Party refused to allow RFA legislation to go through. So RFA agreements still have not got Federal legislation backing them up. It's still an open field. The argument that has been put to everyone is that Council has no planning power here. I agree. Of course State government would take planning power off a Council after having two Councils oppose the establishment of a charcoal plant. They'd be crazy to allow a Council to have any jurisdiction over this plant.
If Dubbo and Gunnedah come out against it what chances are there of Eurobodalla Shire? But the thing that Eurobodalla Shire Council can provide is support to all the people here. I can't see the day that a State Government would come out, not only against the 500 people who turned up to Mogo just last Wednesday, the 100 people who turned up today at council (and I don't know how often it happens but I don't think very often) and they certainly won't stand up against a Council that stands firm with the community ... and that's what we need is for Council to stand firm with the community. And It's a great opportunity for Eurobodalla Shire Council to make it clear to the Government that Council should have a say on planning in their own region. Especially when you have put together a vision of what you want for this area and it completely counteracts that. I'm proud of the people who have turned up for the last couple of weeks. I think it's an amazing response. 150 people turned up for a public meeting in Gunnedah and the plant was stopped. 500 turned up to Mogo. We couldn't fit them in the hall. The plant hasn't been stopped yet but I'm sure if you come behind us it will.