WHAT exactly is it that Shoalhaven City Council is offering with its dredging feasibility study, consultant reports, council notice board messages and the rhetoric and spin of some councillors regarding dredging in the Shoalhaven?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Council says: “Any dredging undertaken by Council would usually be on a ‘one off’ basis as permanent dredging operations could cause significant economic, environmental and social impacts. Due to the difficulty in predicting how long the effects of the dredging will last, operations will need to be repeated over time; however in some circumstances the benefits of the dredging can last a few years.”
Applying this to Sussex Inlet is an interesting case in point. The best council can offer is strictly one-off because of permanent impacts and it can only last two or three years at best. Really? The dredging proposals may well be considered “sand mining”.
A major premise of the proposals is that costs will be recouped by sale of dredged sand. This sounds fine financially but is seriously environmentally flawed.
Is sand mining what the community wants for its coastal estuaries, lakes and lagoons? Is that the blueprint of the environmental future and coastal management for these critically valuable ecosystems – sand mining?
Mayor Gash says that council will “carry out further investigations and community consultation to progress future partnerships with private industry”. Other associated comment indicates that: “It is intended that Council will recoup some or all of the costs when entering into an agreement with private operators to undertake commercial operations in the future.”
That sounds like a commitment to future sand mining. One off? Temporary?
In the case of Sussex Inlet the proposals run contrary to the position council adopted in the St Georges Basin Estuary Management Plan. They might check the dredging statement in their own plan. Councillors might also check whether they are really meeting the provisions of the community engagement policy for “High Impact” projects.
Community consultation is but one identified process in engaging the community and it seems even that needs urgent evaluation.
C. Grounds,
Community representative,
Central Shoalhaven Natural Resources and Floodplain Committee.