Why would anyone choose Tasmania?

Kim Taylor

The Wynyard-Waratah Council has refused to respond to any request from myself to come out to my property and experience my complaint first hand. They also declined to view video footage showing the noise, dust and dangerous conditions generated by trucks servicing the developer’s property.

Why would anyone choose to make Tasmania their home? Basic human rights are ignored by Councils all over Tasmania. Property owners and families have the right to enjoy their homes and yet they are ignored when it comes to developers of quarries and forestry issues. I now have to use the equity in my property to try to fight this decision. I have to go into debt to find an environmental Lawyer, a noise expert and a surveyor in order to fight this. This is an unfair system of government that refuses to listen to the constituents that voted them to their position in the first place. I personally would not recommend that anyone buy a home in Tasmania, they give up their basic rights to enjoy their environment as well as their right to quality of life if they do so.

I AM a disabled pensioner and in 2001 I made the move from Victoria to Wynyard Tasmania, looking for the Clean Green Environment that the Tasmanian Government promotes so highly.

I purchased a beautiful property on a no-through road in Flowerdale, which is situated on the outskirts of Wynyard.
After years of suburban living, I had finally found a place that I could call home. It is situated a maximum of ten minutes from the centre of Wynyard and is surrounded by rolling green hills with distant ocean views, my hew home offered everything I had searched for. The beauty and peaceful surroundings were slowly healing the depression I had been suffering since the accident that destroyed my lower spine, which has left me reliant on slow release Morphine to help control the pain.

The Wynyard/Waratah Council has now decided that a Quarry should be allowed to operate at the end of Marshalls Rd, on which I reside.

Marshalls Rd, though it is actually meant for two way traffic, is only wide enough for one way traffic. A Traffic Impact Assessment has ruled out this road for any normal development unless it is significantly changed and totally ruled out it’s use by any Extractive Industry.

I along with other residents lodged objections against this proposal for road safety reasons and it’s affects on residential amenity and the property values of existing residences. Despite the traffic impact assessment and objections from residents council voted for this proposal.

Dilapidated gravel pavement

Marshalls Road has a very dilapidated gravel pavement and no effective shoulder or roadside reserve. It passes within a few metres of most homes and surrounds my home on two sides. There are no vegetative barriers for screening the road, as there is no room for such.

I corresponded with council on numerous occasions in regards to this proposal and at one stage whilst the developer was carrying out questionable works on his property which generated approximately 70-80 truck movements along this road, I did lose my temper.

I had called council numerous times to ask them to call me in regards to the activity which was causing environmental nuisance by the way of excessive noise and dust.

However, council did not return my calls or come out to investigate my complaints, which led to my frustration and loss of temper during which I sent them an abusive email.

I did write and apologise for this incident, my apology was neither acknowledged or accepted by council, Nor did they apologise for not responding to my complaint.

As my home is situated at the end of Marshalls Rd and on top of a hill, the noise from the trucks servicing this proposed quarry is horrendous. I say is, because I have experienced this noise through the questionable works that have been carried out by the developer to date.

The Wynyard-Waratah Council has refused to respond to any request from myself to come out to my property and experience my complaint first hand. They also declined to view video footage showing the noise, dust and dangerous conditions generated by trucks servicing the developers property.

A peaceful protest

On the 12th of January I staged a peaceful protest in order to draw attention to my plight by blocking the trucks access to the Crown Reserved Road that begins just past my driveway. The developer had and still has no license to use that road, the police attended of course and I was asked to move my vehicle, which I did. No charges were laid and no license details were taken that day.

Now to add insult to injury the policeman that attended has decided to lay charges five months after the incident???

Why would anyone choose to make Tasmania their home?

Basic human rights are ignored by Councils all over Tasmania. Property owners and families have the right to enjoy their homes and yet they are ignored when it comes to developers of quarries and forestry issues.

I now have to use the equity in my property to try to fight this decision. I have to go into debt to find an environmental Lawyer, a noise expert and a surveyor in order to fight this.

This is an unfair system of government that refuses to listen to the constituents that voted them to their position in the first place.

I personally would not recommend that anyone buy a home in Tasmania, they give up their basic rights to enjoy their environment as well as their right to quality of life if they do so.

Ms Kim Taylor

Marshalls Rd
Flowerdale 7325
Tasmania