Botany Bay and Catchment Alliance

 INVITATION TO BBACA SUPPORTERS

to attend EDO workshop to learn more about the environmental legislation, eg. EPBC Act as well as how Part 3A of the NSW State Planning Legislation compromises the State’s environmental protection legislation.

to be held:  Rainbow Room, Sutherland Entertainment Centre, Eaton Street, Sutherland.

Contact & RSVP:  Sutherland Environment Centre - info@ssec.org.au

In 2002 BioBanking under the name Green Offsets was placed on exhibition by the EPA.  BBACA put in a submission(http://botanybay.info/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/submissiongreenoffsets.pdf ) and then kept asking for an acknowledgement and/or further information - we forwarded our request to Lis Corbyn on a few occasions and each time we were ignored.  When the determination for the Port Expansion was put in the public domain(October 2005) it contained a reference to the Draft Green Offsets saying that it would be used for Penrhyn Estuary.  This year Sydney Ports used the Green Draft Offsets in establishing a ‘value’ for Penrhyn should the ‘enhancement’ plan for the area fail - link http://www.botanybay.info/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/penrhyn-estuary-offset-package-0705-5015b.pdf  Isn’t it grand to live in a parliamentary democracy?

Public consultation for BIOBANKING  - Compare with Draft Green Offsets(2002)

The Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) has released several important components of the BioBanking Scheme for community comment. They are the: Regulatory Impact Statement for the proposed regulation for the scheme, the Threatened Species Conservation (Biodiversity Banking) Regulation 2007

• Draft BioBanking Assessment Methodology
• Draft Compliance Assurance Strategy.

The closing date for submissions is Friday 1 February 2008:   biobanking@environment.nsw.gov.au   OR

Dr Richard Sheldrake,Deputy Director General
Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW
PO Box A290,Sydney South NSW 1232

Submissions should include your name, address, contact phone numbers and email address and indicate whether you:

would like to receive further information about the scheme;are interested in participating in the scheme and would like to attend information sessions and receive information for potential participants when the scheme commences:are interested in receiving information about training on the credit calculator.

Following the Burnley disaster in April another crash to illustrate the additional risks of tunnel travel.  3 lives were lost in Burnley and millions in tolls and repairs.  Now a similar disaster in California.  Burnely tunnel warnings ignored:  http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21587866-5012713,00.html

 LOS ANGELES (Reuters 14/10/07) - Three people were killed and at least 10 injured in a multi-vehicle crash that caused a fire inside a tunnel and forced the closure of a major freeway in the Los Angeles area, authorities said on Saturday.

The fire broke out late on Friday, following a traffic pileup involving as many as 15 trucks inside a tunnel under Interstate 5. The highway connects Los Angeles to many of its northern suburbs and San Francisco.

More than 1/3rd all vehicle emissions come from freight related tasks and this proportion is growing and within a few decades will overtake private vehicle emissions.  It’s a figure that puts into perspective our dependence on road freight as well as the impacts.

Think Redfern-Waterloo Authority and you get the drift of what this is about.  Read the full proposal published in June 2007 : New Authority proposed for Airport/Port Botany Precinct  by none other than  Lisbet Spanjiaard.  Lisbet was employed by the Department of Planning, working in a group of 4 on the Commission of Inquiry submission for DIPNR, then for Brereton on the Railing Port Botany Containers and then for Richmond on the Review of the Railing Port Botany Containers. She now works for a private consulting firm - Saha International - and sits on the Freight Logistics Taskforce, along with Joe Tripodi; Vince Graham(RailCorp CEO), Sam Haddad(DG Dept Planning);  Chris Oxenbould (CEO NSW Maritime and former CEO Newcastle Ports); John Robertson(Unions NSW); Terry Tzaneros(Austate Logistics Terminal); John West(Dangerous Goods Logististics); Les Wielinga (CEO RTA); Geoff Farnsworth(Chairman of the Sea Freight Council).

The key recommedation from the report

 Creation of an Advisory Board which could include major stakeholders (e.g.the Port and Airport, transport infrastructure providers, representatives from the three tiers of Government, the private sector and the community; or

 Creation of a Statutory Authority or Commission, along similar lines as the Redfern Waterloo Authority or Growth Centres Commission, where there is legislative backing, Ministerial responsibility and dedicated resources for planning and implementing recommendations; or

 Bureaucratic responsibility for coordination of the precinct under the Coordinator General or similar office. Multiple precincts could emerge and be administered and/or coordinated from a single point.

Gary Blaschke spoke for BBACA and gave a well-balanced presentation with plenty of passion.  He included an apology to the Aboriginal peoples of Botany Bay for 200 years of mistreatment of the Bay.  The backdrop of moving pictures of Botany Bay treasures and other iconic images was prepared by John Tourrier and reminded the audience of what we stand to lose.  Gary Blaschke presented the Minister, Nathan Rees, with this document Desal Plant Issues  - a summary of desal issues.  These are taken directly from the EPBC referral and the Environmental Assessment.  The many shortcomings are articulated in their own words. 

Movements of traffic in and out of part of Port Botany ground to a halt because of a chemical scare in a shipping container.  It should make authorities review  the present concentration of hazardous activities in this area and think about decentralisation.  Not only does it pose a major threat to Sydney - only 10 minutes from the CBD - but it would be an economic nightmare for the State if there was a knock on effect from some future catastrophe and the port and airport gas and other supplies were destroyed.

Chemical scare surrounds shipping container  13/9/07 am:  ABC News online:

The customs building at Port Botany in Sydney has been evacuated because of a suspicious chemical found in a shipping container.  Twenty-five workers have been removed while HAZMAT crews investigate the chemical, which was discovered about two hours ago.

Superintendent Craig Brierley from the New South Wales Fire Brigade says Bumborah Point Road at Matraville has been closed.”The container’s full of what we believe is furniture,” he said.

“The night before, Customs fumigated as a routine matter. It may just be a remnant of a fumigant. We’re not exactly sure. “We’ll take some readings and work out our next course of action.”

Link to the New Ideas forum held in August: www.planning.nsw.gov.au/forum The site contains audios of the main speakers as well as summaries from the workshops.