Lonny in trouble … again. Libs pledge to dredge

The Tamar River mudflats …

There yet more trouble brewing in troubled Launceston, centred around our Royal Park. This latest push to erect a 22 story tombstone lookalike memorial on the bank of the city’s unique Tamar mud fields now made up of mostly donated materials and unwittingly provided by Hydro Tasmania in the early 1950’s.

The proposal (Examiner pic above) has been put forward by Errol Stewart, a spokesperson for mainland backers (Examiner story here).

It has been heavily supported by the ‘Examiner’; providing the major lead in support for the venture … true to that tabloid’s long record.

No study whatsoever has been carried out into the feasibility of the project. Had even a basic study been carried out … it would have been revealed that as late as the 1950/60’s this whole area was a disgusting uncontrolled city refuge area.

Huge amounts of toxic material is buried; all hospital waste at that time is also not far below the shallow covering where so many other nasties reside.

These facts may be a let down for the ‘Examiner’ … which keeps tight control to maintain peace within ‘the club’.

It’s interesting that items backed by this media have regularly backfired.

The follies over the years have cost untold millions to the ratepayers of Launceston.

It really is time for serious questioning into the failure of the $80 million floodwall folly; as predicted it appeared doomed to failure from the outset.They should have built on the rock and not on the sand; now it is subsiding into the North-Esk.

The Tamar in Launceston has been a magnet to tragedy on all fronts in this past decade.

There should be an inquiry.

With a new approach and respect for Launceston it may start to work again pulling back from its lowest point ever in the history. It’s interesting the latest move by Launceston’s prominent saviour is now threatening to move his proposal (The bucket & Spade) to another town if rejected by Launceston; perhaps George Town could benefit: this time 22 stories in height plus the 222 stories in The Examiner absolutely free …

• Examiner: Tamar silt dredging ‘not the solution’

• Senator Stephen Parry
Deputy President of the Senate
Liberal, Tasmania

A Coalition Government will provide funding for silt problem without matched funding from the State Government

Shadow Minister Greg Hunt and Federal Liberal Candidate for Bass, Mr Andrew Nikolic, said that the Coalition’s promise of $2.5 million for emergency dredging of the Tamar River would be unconditional on matched funding from the State Government.

Greg Hunt said that “Andrew Nikolic has been a persistent voice in support of issues like cleaning up the Tamar River and helping remote island communities like Flinders Island cope with the heavy impact of the Carbon Tax.

“The Coalition is pleased to improve its commitment to the Tamar, which is the lifeblood of Launceston, the Tamar Valley and North-East Tasmania, with silt accumulation hurting regional recreation and tourism.

“While we would like a State contribution we will not hold this critical environmental promise hostage to an ALP Government that has flatly broken its promise. In short, we will clean up the Tamar with or without the State ALP.

“I was in Launceston just over a year ago and it is disappointing to see that the Tamar River’s only political friend remains the Liberal Party. It will have no stronger advocate than Andrew Nikolic if he is elected to the Federal Parliament,” said Mr Hunt.

Mr Nikolic said that “I am grateful for Greg’s support for the Tamar River and other issues in Northern Tasmania that fall within his portfolio responsibilities.

“Dredging the Tamar is an important part of managing excessive silt and Labor’s inaction has only made this long-standing problem worse.

“The Bartlett and Giddings Labor Governments made promises for the Tamar River that they did not keep and more recently, the Labor Member for Bass has been unwilling to even try.*

“In refusing to take any action, Labor ignores the recommendations of the Launceston Council’s 2009 Siltation Report and repeated requests for state and federal government assistance,” said Mr Nikolic.

* Lyons says he won’t Lobby for silt funds, The Examiner, Monday 30 January 2012, p.3

Senator Stephen Parry welcomes Mr Hunt and other senior shadow ministers who have visited Bass and Lyons over the past few months, including Mr Abbott on four occasions in the past year. “I am pleased that my colleagues are responding to the requests of Andrew Nikolic, Eric Hutchinson and myself to get first hand experience of the key issues in these important electorates”, Senator Parry said.