Once again The Examiner (The daily excuse paper) has come up with a article presenting a rather unique story on how to save the Tamar Basin.
Alison Andrews, their prize snoop, has stumbled upon an inventive scheme to build a barrage across the Tamar at Long Reach (a study that had been officially done some 20 years ago and already on record as ruled out).
The story has not been vetted in any way, simply a two page ramble full of excitement.
A similar scheme was first submitted to their paper in 1998 and had been been vetted by many knowledgeable people but Monday’s reporting at the Examiner obviously does not refer to old records … if such things exist.
I believe this gives a good reflection on just why Launceston’s once respected print media is today fighting to find readers and has become unworthy of the name.
Any reader browsing the article in the (Examiner 4th April) may recognise the similarity to The Lake Batman Project which was first released to that paper in 1998 and has had many reminders from various quarters since that time.
The plan is the same apart from placing the Barrage at far distant Long Reach; instead it calls for the Barrage to be situated right on Stephenson’s Bend incorporating a desperately needed river crossing at that point.
It also calls for a 200m bypass canal through the open spaces of Heritage Park to a point directly below the barrage lock to take the North-Esk river with all its silt laden content completely bypassing the city and be automatically delivered into the tidal flow beyond Freshwater Point by the concentrated efforts of the Cataract Gorge and Trevallyn Hydro (The total South-Esk flow) flowing over the Barrage 24/7.
This proposal had only met with ridicule from The Examiner, fearlessly quoting in print the City Council’s extraordinary rambling of a suggested costing of up to $1Billion for such a scheme and so a few years of study and interest went down the drain and were wasted.
Now it seems it might have some value after all.
This latest story likens the solution to the Tees Barrage in the UK and the Singapore Marina … it is certainly a steal.
I have visited the Marina Barrage and also have watched the transformation of the Singapore River from when I first saw it 45 years ago.
Strangley the Lake Batman Proposal was put to me by the very same engineers who were called on to plan and carry out the work on the Singapore Marina Barrage which was opened nearly 3 years ago … and was not even off the drawing board when the Batman proposal was presented to Council and Examiner.
I have followed this particular construction since its inception and have been aware of several pitfalls, and have learnt many of the in-depth requirements on that scheme that also closely relate to the Tamar now in 2011; pollutant levels in the two waterways are on similar scale and under professional requirements today, silt removal would require a graded treatment process from furnace treatment for the worst areas of spoil; the remainder would need burial under top fill of up to 2 meters as was the case in Singapore.
The current plan put forward by ‘Robin Firth’ and featured in the Examiner is really starting at the beginning all over again; I had really thought we should have advanced further than that, by this time
To talk about damming the whole river makes one think that the whole charade smells of coming from Gunns desk in a convenient move to have fresh water delivered to the Pulp Mill’s doorstep.
The Examiner has. put it to press without thought or hesitation while still trembling with excitement.
The hidden story is about the new wonders in store for tourists and others being able to travel all the way to the mill site in glass bottom boats and frolic on the beaches lining the shores of the Tamar.
