Dr Jane Elek MR Tasmanian Marine Association Inc. Naturalists
“A CANAL estate at Lauderdale would set a dangerous precedent for Tasmania”, says Tasmanian Marine Naturalists Association President, Dr Jane Elek.
“If the RPDC and the Tasmanian Government were to approve the Walker Corporation development, developers will be lining up to try their luck elsewhere around Tasmania’s precious shoreline.
Will the next ones be on the Tasman or Freycinet Peninsulas, at Coles Bay or St. Helens, or on the Tamar River? Because of the damage they cause, canal estates have been banned in NSW and Victoria and are now restricted in Queensland and Western Australia. Tasmania should learn from the mistakes of others, not repeat them.”
Offering a State Marine Conservation Area to proposed developers is another dangerous precedent by our government,” says .Dr Simon Grove, Conservation Biologist and Planner and Vice-president of the TMNA.
“It’s about time we woke up to the fact that our coastal zone is a precious and extremely limited natural resource. Looking out over the sea from dry land, it’s easy to imagine that the coastal zone goes on for ever, but in reality it’s a thin ribbon of irreplaceable habitat that is seldom more than a few hundred metres wide. Losing over half the tidal flats in Ralphs Bay would be disastrous for the area’s marine ecology. If the tidal flats were not important, they would not have been given the status of Conservation Area”.
“This is an issue that all Tasmanians should be worried about, not just Lauderdale residents. If this precedent is set, watch out Coles Bay, St Helens and Launceston.”
