Southern Beaches Conservation Society Inc. (SBCS) presentation to the Sorell Council Meeting Tuesday 18 November 2014 …

Information regarding a Writ issued on behalf of the Copping Refuse Disposal Site Joint Authority (Trading as SWS), against SBCS and Angela Marsh

This statement is to bring to Council’s notice, a Writ that has been issued by SWS against SBCS and me (Angela Marsh (President of SBCS at the time)).

This injunction against me on behalf of SBCS is because I signed the letters as President of SBCS, a normal and accepted way to end a letter.

SWS has acted in an extremely vexatious and personal manner against me. They are seeking personal damages from me and yet have not incurred any as a business.

Essentially, the suit focuses on a letter sent to companies that generate hazardous waste, voicing our concerns regarding the viability of the Copping site for receiving and containing hazardous material, requesting they undertake due diligence when considering the disposal of their hazardous waste.

If a business is diligent with waste disposal, it will seek the most appropriate, most environmentally sustainable method, not the cheapest.

Councillors will remember (and for new Councillor’s information), a petition against the C cell with 2400 signatures was presented to Council by the Sorell community. This represents 20 per cent of ratepayers.

On many occasions the Community has voiced their opposition to the C cell. Another instance: 2500 letters were sent to the Regional Development Australia Fund to inform the fund that the application did not have the backing of the Community.

With regard to waste management in Tasmania, the “Blue Environment” report, 2014, rates Tasmania as the state that has the worst results for dealing with all waste. On Radio National – Ockham’s Razor by Andrew Lang, a farmer from Victoria following his visit to the Bioenergy Conference in Sweden, where 99 per cent of waste is reused, condemned Tasmania for it’s waste management. What sort of reputation is that for a clean green state?

The most startling information to come to light very recently is that the Antarctic 20 year Plan, March 2014, insists that it cannot go ahead with its logistics planning for ships from other countries wishing to use Hobart, without the Copping C cell. This to all intents and purposes means that Hobart will receive hazardous waste from China, Korea and all other countries mentioned in that Report. This waste should be repatriated back to the country of origin if it cannot be treated in situ. Tasmania should not become the toxic waste dump for other countries Antarctic waste.

In conclusion, SBCS continues to voice its opinion that as the southern most part of the state, with narrow winding roads on a major tourist route, Copping is the wrong location for a C cell. If the state government were to introduce a hazardous waste levy as an incentive for business to seek alternative more sustainable methods to dealing with hazardous waste, Tasmania would not require a C cell.
Southern Beaches Conservation Society Inc. (SBCS)