Gunns alters pulp mill plan
Lennon upbeat about planning process for Gunns
And,
Gunns could tie up court, judge warns (The 19th defendant is actually RHH specialist physician Dr Frank Nicklason)
And,
Pulping the world … see for yourself
And,
What TRAC reckons:
PRESS RELEASE
TRAC
(TAMAR RESIDENTS ACTION COMMITTEE)TRAC DEMANDS THE RPDC RE-OPEN PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS
The Tamar Residents Action Committee says changes accepted by the RPDC to a Gunn’s submission has rendered the process of formulating guidelines for the pulp mill null and void.
TRAC says the RPDC should re-open the opportunity for public submissions after it has accepted significant changes from Gunn’s to its proposal relating to building a pulp mill at Longreach in the Tamar Valley.
“Guun’s Revised Project Scope was issued the day public submissions closed. It contains significant changes to the size of land required, “ TRAC coordinator, Les Rochester said.
The RPDC appears to have accepted this proposal as the latest although the public hasn’t had the opportunity to comment on it.
“I call on the RPDC to show it is at arms length from the project by reopening public submissions based on the new proposal.”
“We now have the ridiculous situation of three different documents from Gunn’s floating around on official websites.
Mr. Rochester said although only the original can be legally used, the sleight of hand in putting up the revised proposal after the close of public submissions shows the lack of genuine separation between the State Government, the RPDC, the Pulp Mill Task Force and the proponent, Gunn’s.
TRAC co-ordinator Mr.Les Rochester says the revised project scope document contains much more new information that wasn’t included in its original documents lodged with the RPDC and more importantly with the Federal Department of Environment and Heritage.
“We see this as a significant breach of the process, and will be writing to the Federal Minister, Senator Ian Campbell to get a direction from him on whether Gunns Ltd has breached his original approval for a “referral” under the EPBC Act.
“This is outrageous,” Mr.Rochester said.
“Over 160 individuals and groups spent their time making a submission to the RPDC, only to find that on the day the submissions closed, the goalposts were moved.
“This makes a mockery of the government’s promise of an open and transparent process, and is a slap in the face to all Tasmanians who took the government at their word.” Mr.Rochester said..
Gunns Ltd revised project scope was sent to the RPDC by its pulp mill manager Mr.Les Baker as part of the public submission phase and is numbered 141 in the RPDC’s list of submissions received.
“This is a backdoor way of doing business and what makes it more outrageous is that the RPDC has placed that particular document on its website under the Gunns proposal, which means it has endorsed the action.
“We want to know from the RPDC whether it plans to re-open the public submission phase in order for all Tasmanians to make a fair comment about the new information contained in the revised project scope.
“ As an example, in the original referral document lodged by Gunns Ltd, they claimed they would need 100 hectares of land for the pulp mill at Longreach, but in the revised project scope they claim they’ll need 650 hectares of land.
“This is a significant change and will have significant impacts on the environment, and Tasmanians have not had the chance to voice their concerns about this particular aspect of the project through the public submission phase.” Mr.Rochester said.
“You can’t blame the public for not having any further confidence in this process, especially if they see the RPDC condoning the actions of the proponent.
“As far as TRAC is concerned this current process must be declared invalid, otherwise it may allow itself to be contested in a court of law, which will only go to put further hurdles in the way of this project.” he concluded.
MEDIA CONTACT
LES ROCHESTER
TRAC COORDINATOR
http://www.tamar-trac.com
David Mohr
June 20, 2005 at 11:04
What is going on in this state?
Concerned groups of people have taken many hours to prepare submissions for the RPDC and on the very day these submissions are due Gunns reveals it has made changes to its proposal!
One hundred hectares becomes six hundred and fifty! New ports are to be built. More native forest is required than what was originally stated.
This pulp mill proposal is a fraud. How can people trust this process? The vision of Northern Tasmania as a giant tree farm with token “pockets” of protected native forest and productive farm land and a polluting, water guzzling, smelly pulp mill is one that is totally abhorrent.
Dave Groves
June 20, 2005 at 14:07
I sent this to Pam Scott of the RPDC and await comment……
I have just learned via your website that Gunns Ltd has submitted a revised project scope for the proposed pulp mill.
I assume this means the public will, as in the instance of the original document, have the chance to comment on the significant changes that are in this document.
When and how will this new information be made public eg via the Pulp Mill Task Force, television etc?
What will be the time frame for public comment on this new document submitted by Gunns Ltd?
Could you also tell me where I can electronically view the other submissions to the RPDC on this matter.
I eagerly await your reply……
and elsewhere;
On the rollercoaster.
If you had said to me four years ago that I would be working in and living Tasmania, I would have said that you’d be dreaming.
Still, I am here, here to stay and calling this place home. In fact this is the first place in my life where I feel like I am home.
I thought I would just coast along and enjoy the beauty and tranquillity that I would find here. I did for the first year or so, but then alarm bells began to ring.
A few drives around the country, conversations with the locals etc and I began to realise that there are some serious problems in Tasmania.
Meekly from my keyboard came the first letters to the editor of the local paper.
Selectively printed and mostly edited I became disillusioned and stopped writing for some time.
Time….something we are all running short of. I now realise I must keep plugging away in an effort to do my little bit to help fix the wrongs in our State.
It is a battle and no battles are enjoyable, but I feel that I have to contribute.
I am glad there are many among us with similar motivation. It makes the rollercoaster ride a little less nauseous.
Thanks to those people.
but there’s more…………
The Longreach woodchip mill is set to chip 5.2 million tonnes each year for the pulp mill at its alleged maximum capacity.
A quick piece of maths says that is one 45 tonne load of native forest and one 5 tonne load of plantation every five minutes, 24 hours a day 365 days of the year.
(Bob Gordon says that only 10% of wood chipped comes from plantation, the rest is native forest,
50% public and 50% private)
This represents a massive impact on our native forests, our roads, our quality of life and our safety.
Just imagine you live on a hill, trucks going up with engines racing, trucks going down with exhaust brakes thundering.
Our native forests will be going to the chipper day in day out with no respite for the public, so how will this impact on people’s lives?
The roads are being pulverised by these giants and my guess is that the taxpayers will be asked to foot the bill for the damage to roads.
Our leaders have and continue to let log trucks run overloaded, so it is obvious road safety is an issue that does not concern our government, despite the multitude of accidents involving log trucks.
I have heard that “B-triples†are on the agenda, it will be interesting to see if this eventuates.
The drivers of these juggernauts are on unrealistic timetables and I have heard many complaints at the rate of pay which I am told is around $15 per hour with no penalty rates.
It is a paltry amount for such a huge responsibility and such a dangerous occupation.
It will be most interesting to see how this debacle unravels.
Dave Groves
June 21, 2005 at 00:47
Let’s see if the RPDC is really at arms length from the State Government, by declaring the initial submission null and void.
Gunns Ltd’s new document has many fundamental changes that will impact on the community.
If this is a transparent process, as has been touted by the Premier, we must have this new document available for public comment with the appropriate time frame to do so.
If the RPDC is trying to “steamroll†this process, this will be obvious if they let this document through.
Paul Lennon has said they are “independent†and also said, “Politicians should butt out of thisâ€.
That is an interesting statement seeing as how the only group that is making a difference to this process is the non political community group TRAC.
TRAC uncovered and released this information to the community at large.
TRAC is a group of concerned residents who are taking this process very seriously.
For all those who want to see this process as it happens log onto http://www.tamar-trac.com.
Simon Rolfe
June 21, 2005 at 02:14
30 years?, Gunns want to log native forests for 30 years to feed the pulp mill.
Will there actually be any native forest left after 30 years?
Is this a cunning plan to deforest the state and replace it with a monoculture plantation?
Disgusting tactic anf hopefully one the RPDC will see through.
What is the point of having a public consultation if the goal posts shift after the game has finished?
Another disGUNNsting tactic.
David Obendorf
June 21, 2005 at 06:21
Senator Ian Campbell, the Commonwealth Environment Minister is currently in Korea at the annual International Whaling Commission meeting talking tough against Japan’s plan to resume commercial whaling.
In the two decades afer World War II the world’s whale populations were driven to the brink especially the large baleen whales like the Blue and Humpback whales.
Whaling was industrialised through the use of floating whale-processing factory ships and fleets of catcher vessels patrolling the Southern Ocean for year after year after year.
The driving forces that caused the ecological collapse of whale stocks has many socio-economic and environmental analogies with unsustainable forestry practices in Tasmania, Borneo, Brazil, Burma, Thailand, equatorial Africa & Canada.
Sadly greedy, powerful individuals can lose empathy & compassion for ‘every thing’ to achieve personal goals. Freedom to exercise unbridled power will invariably seduce reason at all levels of human society. And no one, but no one, can tell them otherwise.
But as we all should know — sickness and death are great levellers.
Any insatiable life of addiction can be suddenly checked by mortality. None of us are immortal and it is the awareness of our human-ness, by confronting our own impermanence, our own personal death that we begin to change a ego-passion into a common passion for all.
In 2005 in Tasmania the rough beast slouches ever so slowly toward Bethlehem.
Frank Strie and family
June 21, 2005 at 08:31
Cunning, outdated tactic, unsustainable, nasty, disgusting, underhanded, bully like practices, narrow mindedness, opposite to intelligent behaviour, disregarding the Tamar valley community, the families and local people.
First they lure the people down here to settle in the valley, now they try to ruin our plans, intergenerational dreams and high quality expectations.
Lennon and the Government will get the bill by the next state election.
His leadership position is indirect supported due to the quality of the current leadership in the Tasmanian Liberal Party.
Arrogance all the way.
As Gunns chairman John Gay said: “It is usual in projects of this magnitude for variations to be made.”
They want it their way or otherwise…
Or as Peter Cundall called it so well: “Greed”!
Dave Groves
June 22, 2005 at 01:42
Gunns have not told Federal Government
about major pulp mill changes
Gunns Ltd has ‘not formally raised changes’ in its pulp mill plans with the federal government, the Minister for Forests and Conservation, Ian Macdonald, admitted in the Senate today.
Questioned by Greens Senator Bob Brown, Senator Macdonald indicated that even though the federal government was in the dark as to the sixfold increase in site specifications for the pulp mill at Longreach, and the added impact of a deepwater jetty, the Howard Government would not change its status as a project of ‘national significance’.
The minister refused to answer Senator Brown’s request for the government to reveal if Gunns’ supremo John Gay talked with ministers, including Prime Minister Howard, in Canberra last week.
He also refrained from telling the Senate if the Howard Government had committed to more than the $5 million already promised to Gunns for the pulp mill project.
Senator Brown labelled the $5 million as ‘corporate welfare’ through taxpayers’ money.
Further information: Ben Oquist