2012 Sorell Council by-elections

Visit the Tasmanian Electoral Commission's 2012 Sorell Council by-elections page for all the details

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Please visit our How to Help page for contact details of state and local government representatives if you are thinking of writing emails or letters.

We will continue to update this page accordingly.

Tasmanians Should Be Ashamed Of Their Political Representatives

Carlton River Catchment & Southern Beaches Conservation Society

Dump the Toxic Dump

P.O. Box 92, Dodges Ferry, TASMANIA, 7177

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   Thursday 20th October

TASMANIANS SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEIR POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVES

Local communities surrounding the Carlton River and the Southern Beaches are bitterly disappointed this morning after Liberal and Labor members yesterday defeated Greens MP Tim Morris’ motion to refer the proposed hazardous materials waste dump to an Environment, Resources & Development Committee for further assessment.

Mr Morris’ motion to the House of Assembly requested that issues arising over public consultation mand the overall necessity for such a proposal be examined under the 2004 Sustainable Landfill Guide and other relevant Commonwealth and State waste management strategies.
 

The decision by Labor and Liberal members to ignore this request, in support of the landfill development has consigned Tasmania to decades of worst practice in relation to hazardous material waste management. The Commonwealth National Waste Policy and the Tasmanian Waste & Resource Management Strategy both recognise landfill as the least desirable option.  

Shane Humpherys from the Carlton River Catchment & Southern Beaches Conservation Society said “Tasmanians should be ashamed of their political representatives ignoring best practice in relation to waste management.”
 

“Only 20-30% of all Tasmania’s waste is diverted from landfill, whereas the national average is 60% and increasing. The action of Liberal and Labor members yesterday condemns 100% of Tasmania’s and Antarctica’s hazardous waste to landfill. This is appalling and in complete contrast to best practice and trends throughout the rest of Australia and the developed World.”
 

Alternate reprocessing and reuse technologies as encouraged by the National Waste Policy for hazardous materials will generate far greater levels of investment and employment in Tasmania than a ‘hole in the ground’ landfill development. The National Waste Policy fully supports transboundary movements of waste where economics and best practice dictate better outcomes. This is consistent with viewing waste as an economic resource not something to be simply discarded. State Labor and Liberal members seem incapable of accepting this new paradigm in waste management.
 

“It is clear that the State Labor and Liberal parties are satisfied to accept a second rate outcome for waste management in Tasmania. They have continued to ignore the guiding principles of the National Waste Policy and the Tasmanian Waste & Resource Management Strategy and in doing so condemn Tasmania’s waste management to the worst in the nation for decades to come,” said Mr Humpherys.

- MEDIA RELEASE ENDS -

For further information please contact:
Claire Burnet on 0448 585 947
dumpthetoxicdump@gmail.com

Response To Yesterday’s Media Release From Tim Morris

Carlton River Catchment & Southern Beaches Conservation Society

Dump the Toxic Dump

P.O. Box 92, Dodges Ferry, TASMANIA, 7177

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                 Tuesday 16th October

RESPONSE TO YESTERDAY’S

MEDIA RELEASE FROM TIM MORRIS

The Carlton River Catchment & Southern Beaches Conservation Society (CRCSBCS) welcome the Tasmanian Greens announcement yesterday to refer the Joint Authority, Southern Waste Solutions (SWS) proposed hazardous materials waste cell adjacent to the Carlton River, to the House of Assembly Environment, Resources & Development Committee.

CRCSBCS want to see the C-Cell project assessed through an overarching state-wide policy using the framework of the National Waste Policy 2009, the Tasmanian Waste & Resource Management Strategy 2009 and the draft Sustainable Infrastructure Australia; Controlled Waste Report 2008.

Shane Humpherys, from CRCSBCS said "It is interesting to note that a separate report commissioned for the Southern Waste Strategy Authority (SWSA) in 2011 noted that “the Copping landfill authority has a financial interest in maximising revenue by maximising waste disposal to landfill. This is in opposition to the waste minimisation responsibilities of SWSA and the recommended guiding principles (Tasmanian Waste Resource

Management Strategy 2009) ... ... ... this would have negative long term impacts on waste minimisation and management in the region.” "

All of the above documents recognise landfill as the least desirable option.

“Whilst we recognise that the community consultation in relation to SWS' proposal was flawed and warrants further investigation, this of itself does not address all of the community's outstanding concerns in relation to the site of the project and its potential environmental and social impacts. Furthermore, the project directly undermines a proper state-wide strategy built on a recognised waste management hierarchy and undermines investment in alternate management strategies.”

-- MEDIA RELEASE ENDS—

For further information, please contact:

Claire Burnet on 0448 585 947

dumpthetoxicdump@gmail.com

Progress of the states and territories towards nationally consistent environmental protection

"Under the the National Environment Protection Council Act 1994 (section 24) NEPC is required to report on the overall assessment of the implementation and effectiveness of NEPMs in all jurisdictions. Summary reports on the implementation and effectiveness of each NEPM are also contained in the NEPC Annual Report."

 

CURRENT ANNUAL REPORT

Link to the 2010-11 - NEPC Annual Report*

(from: http://www.ephc.gov.au/annual_report)

*Note: http://www.scew.gov.au/publications/annual-report/pubs/nepc-annual-report-2010-11.pdf (PDF, 6.37MB) is the location of the report itself, if you wish to download it directly.

MEDIA RELEASE - We've Got the Numbers!

Carlton River Catchment & Southern Beaches Conservation Society

Dump the Toxic Dump

P.O. Box 92, Dodges Ferry, TASMANIA, 7177

MEDIA RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                            Wednesday 10th October

WE’VE GOT THE NUMBERS!

The Carlton River Catchment & Southern Beaches Conservation Society will today hand Sorell Council a petition containing nearly 2,000 signatures protesting the development of the Carlton River Toxic Waste Dump.

This is likely the largest petition Sorell Council has ever received!

This momentous occasion will take place where the Carlton River meets the Sea. A spot with special relevance given the C-Cell will be located just 200 metres from the nearest tributary, 800 metres from the main tributary and only 10 kilometres from where the Carlton River terminates into Frederick Henry Bay at Carlton Beach.

“The community consider the proximity to the Carlton River makes the site unsuitable for a hazardous materials waste dump,” said Society President, Angela Marsh.

“You can see how many people are opposed to this development because in less than a month, 20% of the Sorell municipality have signed the petition.”

To visually demonstrate the number of people against the C-Cell, community members will place flags in the sand, representing every person who signed the petition.

Councillor Kerry Degrassi will be there to formally receive the petition on behalf of Sorell Council.

This event will take place at the Carlton River Mouth on Carlton Beach, Wednesday 10th October at 12 noon.

-- MEDIA RELEASE ENDS—

Please RSVP with a mobile phone number in case of inclement weather and a change of location.
Parking is available at the river mouth parking area on River Street, with a short walk through to the beach.
For further information, please contact Dump the Toxic Dump:
dumpthetoxicdump@gmail.com

Volunteers needed to staff the CRCSBCS Information stalls

Calling for people to staff the CRCSBCS Information stall at the upcoming events:

Primrose Sands Family Expo this Saturday 13th October 10am-2pm

The Dodges Artisans & Farmers Market Sunday 21st October 10am-2pm

Please contact Eve at if you can assist in this important work via: dumpthetoxicdump@gmail.com

The fish that walks...

Learn more about these amazing and endangered fish on our very doorstep, by visiting the CSIRO (Text & Video Clip available)

Nine new species for disappearing handfish family

"It's not just two or three handfish species of concern. Our work has described nine new species, each with its own environmental niches and needs, and several of these appear to have very restricted distributions, and/or occur in very low abundance." 

Are handfish walking towards extinction?

"Nine new species of handfish have been described by CSIRO in research that highlights an urgent need to better understand and protect the diversity of life in Australia’s oceans." (Text & Podcast: 5m:33s)

Handfish Photo Gallery

Thought of the day

Dilution is not the solution to bioaccumulation, it's the problem

MEDIA RELEASE - Communities Dissatisfied with Submission Process

Carlton River Catchment & Southern Beaches Conservation Society

Dump the Toxic Dump

P.O. Box 92, Dodges Ferry, TASMANIA, 7177

MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release. Wednesday 3rd October, 2012

Communities Dissatisfied with Submission Process

Community members from Carlton River, Dodges Ferry & Copping are entirely unsatisfied with Southern Waste Solutions’ response to their C-Cell submissions. In many cases, specific concerns have not been been addressed at all or have been answered too generically.

“Throughout this process we have been asking SWS to provide the scientific data to back up their clean, green and durable claims for the C-Cell. They won’t and it leaves us wondering why” said Claire Burnet from the Carlton River Catchment & Southern Beaches Conservation Society.

“They haven’t even commissioned an Aquatic survey of the Carlton River, which sits 800 metres from the site. The world’s only last breeding colony of the critically endangered Red Handfish is within the watershed of this river. It is inconceivable that their survival is not being considered.”

“It will be entirely remiss if this project is allowed to proceed without first being under the auspices of a state-wide government policy and strategy for waste management.”

“The 2008 Tasmanian government commissioned “Sustainable Infrastructure Australia Report” identifies landfill as being the last option - not the first.”

-- MEDIA RELEASE ENDS—

For further information, please contact Dump the Toxic Dump:

dumpthetoxicdump@gmail.com

Be informed.......

Find out the facts and background to the Copping toxic dump. These links and more on our Resources page:

Publications by the Local Government Board

• The Local Government Board's Report and Recommendations to the Minister on its Review of the Copping Refuse Disposal Site Joint Authority (September 2008) (PDF, 1.07MB)
• The Board released a submission paper in relation to its review of the Copping Refuse Disposal Site Joint Authority (November 2007) (PDF, 636KB)

Reports

• Waste Management 2020 and beyond - Final Report (PDF, 1060KB), Blue Environment Waste Management 2011
• Annual Report 2010-11 : Outcome 3: Antarctica : Case study 1: Thala Valley Waste Removal Project 
• Environmental Assessment Report - Category C Landfill Cell (PDF, 5,383KB), The Board of the Environment Protection Authority (Tasmania) June 2012