Sandbanking
sandbanking
Fisherman’s Beach, Mornington, August 2008.
Here in this pic we see the Mornington Shire’s efforts to shore up and replace the beach so that we can continue to enjoy the benefits of the Bay.
At last the Finance Committee report is available. It is disturbing to read of the limited perspective of those determining the health and well being of our Bay and the surrounding villages, towns, cities and suburbs.
A cursory scan of the report is revealing of the conceptual frameworks – the mindsets – of Corporate entities as they consider the bean counting and money crunching aspects of a major project. the value of such a project to the larger society is NOT included.
As I post this, the news of Cranbourne residents about to be turfed out of their houses because of methane leakage is being broadcast. In Cranbourne, the Council fought the plans for development in the area described. VCAT overrode Council and residents protests and gave the go ahead to build. Another example of what is emerging as a major limitation of the Corporations and Developers’ thinking behind far too many major projects: that of consideration of the consequences of such projects within a context of environment and societal well being.
Whilst it may be evident that legislation is inadequate – these concerns are part of a bigger picture. Considering Tasmania’s Pulp Mill, the sorry state of the Darling river system due to both drought and inconsiderate & insensitive agricultural practices … and so on … we can understand the context of the Bay Channel deepening project.
We humans have been blithely developing and building, creating and destroying for centuries with little consideration of the consequences on people and nature’s plant, animal & mineral kingdoms.
Now, the basic evidence of cause and effect are rising in our personal and social consciousness.
The Bay is definitely a precious asset to Melbourne City and its surrounds. How this asset is treated, perceived and utilised is a reflection of the evolutionary consciousness of the City’s inhabitants. The value placed upon this asset and how that value is calculated – seems to be a difficulty for our current estimators and Planners.
MEDIA RELEASE
10 September 2008
Greens say the Port of Melbourne is polluting Port Phillip Bay
Greens MP Sue Pennicuik says that the latest PoMC quarterly report has indicated that water quality control limits were exceeded on a number of occasions over the last three months. In addition water-quality testing by ACFs Bay Monitor has confirmed that the plume from the dredger has spread further than predicted and the report that the dredger has spilled 1,000 litres of hydraulic fluid at the Entrance to the Bay just show that the Port is not serious about protecting the ecosystem of Port Phillip Bay.
“The plume from the dredger has spread further than the Port had predicted, but many others in the community had predicted that this would happen,” said Ms Pennicuik.
“Arsenic, zinc, copper, nickel and nitrogenous compounds have all been found in concentrations higher than the ‘control limits,’ which is no surprise either due to the weak Environmental Management Plan that the Port is operating to. All of this was foreseen by scientists and others independent of the Port and the state government and sadly are coming to pass.
“The pollution and the spreading dredge plume demonstrates the inability of the PoMC to adhere to even its own watered down environmental standards.”
“I find it deplorable that the response of the PoMC to these breaches is to further weaken them to accommodate the needs of the dredging project rather than the needs of the ecosystem of Port Phillip Bay.”
“This is like removing the canaries from the coal mines when the poison gas levels rise, she said.”
“My question is ‘where is the regulator?’ Which agency is pursuing the dredging company and the Port of Melbourne for polluting Port Phillip Bay?”
For more information call Sue Pennicuik 0407 000 270