Opening the door to inappropriate coastal development

CASSY O’CONNOR MP
Media Release

Greens Coastal Policy spokesperson Cassy O’Connor MP called on Premier David Bartlett to support the Resource Planning and Development Commission putting the revised Draft Policy out to public comment, to provide Tasmanians with a chance to comment on and improve the Policy, and enhance the protection afforded to the State’s coastline.

Ms O’Connor also said that she hopes the RPDC will seek evidence from coastal planning experts in NSW and Victoria to hear evidence on why these states have specifically prohibited canal housing estates and marinas.

“Premier David Bartlett and his government are prepared to sell off the Ralphs Bay Conservation Area to private development interests, going directly against the principles of the State Coastal Policy 1996, but this new Draft State Coastal Policy 2008 actually paves the way for the privatisation of public coastal assets and the construction of canal estates and marinas in Tasmania,” said Ms O’Connor.

“Successive Labor Governments in Tasmania have failed to comprehend or respect the complex nature of coastal processes, or the value of estuarine environments, which provide critical ecosystem services that underpin the health and sustainability of Tasmanian fisheries.”

DRAFT POLICY OPENS DOOR TO INAPPROPRIATE DEVELOPMENT ON TASMANIA’S COASTLINE

Media Release

The Tasmanian Greens today released the Bartlett Government’s Draft State Coastal Policy 2008 and noted with great disappointment that it fails to prohibit the construction of canal housing estates and marinas along Tasmania’s fragile coastline, despite the fact that these developments are specifically prohibited in NSW and Victoria.

Greens Coastal Policy spokesperson Cassy O’Connor MP called on Premier David Bartlett to support the Resource Planning and Development Commission putting the revised Draft Policy out to public comment, to provide Tasmanians with a chance to comment on and improve the Policy, and enhance the protection afforded to the State’s coastline.

Ms O’Connor also said that she hopes the RPDC will seek evidence from coastal planning experts in NSW and Victoria to hear evidence on why these states have specifically prohibited canal housing estates and marinas.

“Premier David Bartlett and his government are prepared to sell off the Ralphs Bay Conservation Area to private development interests, going directly against the principles of the State Coastal Policy 1996, but this new Draft State Coastal Policy 2008 actually paves the way for the privatisation of public coastal assets and the construction of canal estates and marinas in Tasmania,” said Ms O’Connor.

“Successive Labor Governments in Tasmania have failed to comprehend or respect the complex nature of coastal processes, or the value of estuarine environments, which provide critical ecosystem services that underpin the health and sustainability of Tasmanian fisheries.”

“Tasmania’s coastline is a priceless natural, cultural and economic asset that is the shared property of all Tasmanians, not just the Tasmanian Labor Party and its predatory developer mates.”

ATTACHED: Bartlett Government’s Draft State Coastal Policy 2008.

Cassy O’Connor MP
Greens Coastal Policy Spokesperson
Wednesday, 27 May 2009

www.tas.greens.org.au

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