Posted by Jim on August 27, 2010
Wide Bay Greens have thrown their weight in behind protests over the proposed large scale explosives facility planned for the Sunshine Coast Quarry location.
Just as we have in Kin Kin, we have inadequate roads. The Moy Pocket situation already has high volume heavy haulage traffic that renders a tourist route along Eumundi-Kenilworth Road dangerous, and dangerous too, for school bus traffic. The situation is worse on Moy Pocket Road where the quarry is located because the road is narrower than Eumundi-Kenilworth Road.
We have concerns which others have raised regarding the integrity of the habitat on Kenilworth Bluff and maintaining the visual heritage of the bluff. We note that the quarry owner has previously not applied for government permits to clear remnant forest, and the then manager threatened to bulldoze extensive areas of forested land the company owned on Kenilworth Bluff. “and turn this into the biggest eyesore you’ve ever seen”.
As a regular user of the Eumundi-Kenilworth Road, it seems to me that it would be a planning absurdity for the Gympie Regional Council to approve the development of a large explosives magazine adjacent to the Sunshine Coast Quarry.
The reasons why access along Eumundi-Kenilworth Road and Moy Pocket Road is problematic for the forecast transportation of explosives are:
- Eumundi-Kenilworth Road is a tourist road;
- Eumundi-Kenilworth Road is a school bus route;
- Eumundi-Kenilworth Road already has high volume heavy haulage traffic;
- Moy Pocket Road between the Eumundi-Kenilworth Road junction and the quarry includes a single lane bridge;
- Moy Pocket Road between the Eumundi-Kenilworth Road junction and the quarry is narrower than Eumundi-Kenilworth Road;
- Moy Pocket Road is a school bus route;
- There is a school bus route that turns on and off Moy Pocket Road near the quarry;
- Moy Pocket Road north of the quarry is sub-standard.
WAIT! There is more to read… read on »
Posted by Jim on August 26, 2010
Keep up to date on issues in the Wide Bay electorate and the corresponding State electorates, especially Maryborough, Gympie and Noosa here.
We’ll be back shortly. I’m the spokesperson for the Greens in Wide Bay and will soon have posts up on
- Powerlink
- Aldershot
- Coalmining
- Kin Kin quarry
for starters.
Jim McDonald Greens spokesperson, Wide Bay electorate, 26 August 2010
Posted by Jim on August 2, 2010
Proposals to allow the expansion of the Kin Kin quarry raise issues about its suitability in the Kin Kin district. The following are comments made by the former Minister for Infrastructure and now Premier about the Titanium tourist project, which are relevant to the quarry:
“I need to be satisfied the proposed size and location is consistent with the intent of the SEQ Regional Plan.
“The site includes good quality agricultural land and areas of significant biodiversity value – the very areas the SEQ Regional Plan was established to protect.
“The Regional Plan is our safeguard to ensure growth in SEQ is managed in a sensible fashion. It protects more than 80 per cent of the region from urban development while providing for better land use, environmental protection, improved connections between homes and infrastructure and sustainable use of resources such as water and energy.”
“Ms Bligh said her decision followed a rigorous assessment process by the State Government and Noosa Shire Council. The development application has been the subject of deliberation by numerous agencies since it was lodged in November 2005….”
[Noosa Shire Council] refused the application, citing reasons including that the application was in conflict with their own planning scheme….
[Ministerial Media Statement, 18 April 2007]
Ms Bligh said in Parliament last year:
“No wonder the expert planning advice I received as part of the call-in said that ‘the proposed development would introduce inappropriate levels of development’ and that ‘the site has significant biodiversity values’ and ‘there is no overriding public interest to justify the conversion of this land to non-rural development’.”
As State departments dither on the quarry, why are not the same principles being applied by the the Council and State Government on this issue?
Posted by Jim on July 29, 2010
The Wide Bay Greens candidate, Jim McDonald, said he is perplexed as to how Councillors and the Sunshine Coast Council can allow a mega quarry to gear up in Kin Kin. The Council has approved a large quarry developed for concrete aggregate at the end of Shepparson’s lane alongside the Noosa Trail Network.
“The roads into Kin Kin village are basically country lanes. The main route from Pomona is not even wide enough for line marking and includes three single lane bridges. There is a requirement for quarry approvals to cover provisions for haulage. That has clearly not happened in Kin Kin.
“The road system is too small for quarry trucks and highway entry is on one of the worst black spots on the Bruce Highway near Pomona. Sunshine Coast Council seems to have broken its own rules. The heavy haulage traffic that the expansion of the quarry will bring will endanger the lives of everyone who travels on Kin Kin district’s roads. That’s a dereliction of duty in ensuring due care in managing the roads.
“Were Mayor Bob Abbott and local Councillor Lew Brennan asleep on the job? The proposal for a large quarry has been on the table for a couple of years.
“A large tourist project had been dumped by Anna Bligh when she was the Minister for Infrastructure because Kin Kin didn’t have the infrastructure. It would never have brought the heavy trucks that the quarry will bring, yet the Titanium project was rejected.
“Now the Council and the State Government are paying pass the parcel, while residents are rightly fearful and annoyed by the intransigence of the Council and the failures of the Environment Protection Authority and the Department of Environment and Resource Management.
“Inappropriate coalmining and quarrying in the Wide Bay electorate represent a major threat to residents’ lifestyle, regional infrastructure, and the environment. They undermine the efforts of the Noosa and the Great Sandy Biospheres to inject a sustainable approach to conservation and resource utilisation.
“In the Kin Kin case, this breach of principle is nothing short of a crazy indifference to the community.”
Jim McDonald media release, 29 July 2010
Posted by Jim on July 18, 2010
What is it about mining and quarrying that brings out the worst in corporations and in all levels of government and the best in communities? Community groups in the Mary Valley, Aldershot and Kin Kin are great examples in the Wide Bay electorate of community resilience and wonderful skills quickly learned and applied.
Kin Kin Community Group briefing Saturday, 17 July 2010. Photo, Jim McDonald
The Kin Kin Community Group has been fighting approvals given to a small quarry by the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and the State Government to expand into a very large quarry.
Last week, as if to thumb its nose at the community and the legal case before the court, a large section of the quarry was blasted by the operators.
Premier Anna Bligh had refused an application for a large tourist complex when she was Infrastructure Minister because the infrastructure did not support such a large enterprise near the small village of Kin Kin.
The same narrow winding roads, which are not even wide enough for line marking and have single lane bridges, and will carry large quarry trucks if the quarry is allowed to go ahead, were not adequate for a large commercial tourist operation.
It has to be asked, what role has the Divisional Councillor and the Mayor played in the promotion of the Quarry expansion where up to 40 trucks a day will thunder down Kin Kin’s roads?
The Greens have already backed the community and yesterday the Greens candidate for Wide Bay, Jim McDonald, the Greens candidate for Groom, Frida Forsberg, Michael Kane from the Queensland Greens Management Committee, and the Wide Bay Campaign Manager, Bob Borsellino, were briefed on developments in Kin Kin.
Members of Kin Kin Community Group and Greens representatives on site in Kin Kin
Jim McDonald promised his ongoing support for the community group in fighting the quarry and The Greens are planning additional political support for the campaign against the mega quarry.
While campaigns such as Kin Kin’s fight against the expansion of the quarry bring out the best in communities, it also brings out nasty elements. Someone supporting the quarry has systematically destroyed community signs against the quarry:
One of the signs destroyed by vandals supporting quarry. Photo, Jim McDonald
Similar dirty tricks are played out in Aldershot, where community notices and noticeboards against the Colton Coal Mine are regularly destroyed and damaged by night vandals.
Posted by Jim on June 30, 2010
In 2007, Anna Bligh, then Minister for Infrastructure refused an application for the development of a $400 million tourism development in the village of Kin Kin. Not only did she say that the project was in conflict with the SEQ regional plan, which allows for smaller tourism businesses such as farm stays and Bed and Breakfast establishments, but she also pointed out, “The region just doesn’t have the infrastrucure to support a development of this size.”
The Kin Kin district doesn’t have the infrastructure for up to 40 trucks a day carrying up to 42 tonnes of rock on the roads either. Kin Kin is notorious for the narrow winding roads that lead to the town. Roads in and out of Kin Kin will become a death trap.
Today I visited this quiet little corner and saw Sunshine Coast Regional Council surveyors marking out the road leading from the quarry to the Kin Kin – Wolvi Road for an upgrade. There is nothing in the Main Roads budget for improving the roads. And, this is despite the Council and Kin Kin residents about to face each other in court.
Wahpunga Creek flows off a ridge, past the quarry, and eventually into Kin Kin Creek, which in turn flows into the Noosa River. The Department of Environment doesn’t call this a stream!
Wahpunga Creek: Qld Dep't of Environment & Resource Management says this is not a creek! Photo Jim McDonald
When it rains, it is quite clear from the next photograph that the stream suffers from quarry run-off. This flows eventually through to Kin Kin Creek and Noosa River. This case is an example of tricksy, bureaucratic nonsense emanating from Departments whose function is to protect the environment, but whose arbitrary decisions are ultimately harmful to residents and the environment. This is what the quarry did to the Wahpunga Creek after rain:
Wahpunga Creek downstream from quarry after rain; clear surface water flowing from neighbour's property Photo Maree Glasby
By the way, the road being surveyed, Sheppersons Lane, is part of the Noosa Trail Network!
There are some complicated issues about the legality of the quarry, which has been a small part-time quarry for years. But, the central issue is that accessibility issues have the seeds of tragedy in them if this small quarry is upscaled. Meanwhile, the lessee forges ahead.
Drilling proceeds for expanding Kin Kin Quarry, 30 June 2010 Photo Jim McDonald
The Greens support the Kin Kin community, which has been working hard to prevent their roads being overrun by large trucks that have no place in their small hamlet. Your Wide Bay candidate, Jim McDonald, called on the LNP Opposition spokesperson on the environment, the Hon Glen Elmes, to get moving on the issue. This needs real action to prevent a disastrous result for Kin Kin and district residents.
Jim McDonald, Greens Candidate, Wide Bay, 30 June 2010
We acknowledge and respect the traditional owners of this country and the land on which we stand