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No Surprises In Minister’s Desal Decision

The State Government has given the green light to Victoria’s Desalination Plant despite strong opposition from the Bass Coast community.

By Bass Coast Shire Council - 16th January 2009 - Back to News

Bass Coast Mayor, Cr John Duscher, said the announcement did not come as a surprise.

"The community will be very disappointed with this decision," said Cr Duscher.

"Council has formally opposed the desalination project and is also disappointed.

"Given the limited terms of reference of the Environment Effects Statement (EES) and Inquiry, we are not surprised that the Minister has approved the project."

Chief Executive Officer, Allan Bawden, said council officers were still working through the 400 pages of the EES Assessment and Inquiry Report.

"The Inquiry and The Minister have acknowledged the key concerns of Council and the community," Mr Bawden admitted.

"However, based on our preliminary reading of the documents, the report is light on details on how these concerns might be addressed.

"It is vital that the Government now commits to a new era of co-operation and consultation to ensure this project does not negatively impact on the Bass Coast community and environment."

Key concerns

Mr Bawden said the Desalination Project Assessment released by the Minister did not provide a great deal of assurance.

"The recommendations and approvals are based on concept designs, which has made it difficult for everyone including the Inquiry to assess," explained Mr Bawden.

"Translating that concept into a reality will require extremely good design and construction.

"In many instances, the successful tenderer for the project is not obliged to build to direct specifications or meet clearly defined targets," continued Mr Bawden.

"An exceptionally good monitoring system will be necessary to give the community confidence that the desalination plant is being built to the various approvals.

"This makes the role of an independent auditor in this project extremely important."

The Assessment recommended a range of measures to address the social and economic impacts. These included developing an Accommodation Strategy, establishing a Regional Impact Fund and augmenting or complementing existing services and facilities in health, education and emergency services.

"We certainly welcome these recommendations, as they directly address the concerns raised by Council in our EES submission," said Mr Bawden.

"However, we would like to have seen these as requirements and call on the Government to commit to these recommendations.

"It would go a long way to helping build community confidence if the Government made that assurance."

The Assessment contained no firm commitment to dealing with the impact of the desalination plant on local roads.

"Council is disappointed that the Minister did not accept the Inquiry recommendation to conduct pre and post road condition surveys or undertaken restitution measures," Mr Bawden said.

"Our community will be severely disadvantaged if there isn’t significant contribution from the project company or State Government to maintain and repair local roads affected by the construction and operation of the plant.

"We need a firm commitment to work with Council to deal with the degradation of our local roads."

While Mr Bawden welcomed the news that the option to build an onsite gas fired power station had been rejected, there were still major concerns about the electrical power supply.

"The Inquiry and the Minister’s assessment concluded that both overhead and underground power supplies were viable options," explained Mr Bawden.

"Unfortunately the recommendations did not favour one option over the other.

"This means the important decision of whether to install underground or overhead powerlines will be at the discretion of the successful tenderer," continued Mr Bawden.

"Council is extremely disappointed that the Inquiry did not recommend the undergrounding of power, given the impact powerlines will have on tourism, landscaping and agriculture."

The unavoidable environmental effects of desalination on the marine environment have been acknowledged by the Government.

"The environmental impact is not one of Council’s key areas of expertise, however we are pleased that the Government has called for continued surveying and monitoring of the environmental impact," said Mr Bawden.

"We look forward to hearing the response of key environmental groups to the Minister’s assessment.

"The community needs to be satisfied that the monitoring is rigorous enough to effectively measure the actual impact of the desalination plant on marine life."

Cr Duscher called on the Government to support the Bass Coast community in dealing with this project.

"It is now important for the Government to work in close co-operation with Council and the community to ensure that construction works do not disrupt community life," said Cr Duscher.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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