UPDATE, 17 July 2006. Posted by solicitor Adele Carles who relocated her family last month from their South Beach home due to contamination fears. Stockland has now commenced it’s controversial ‘clean up’ at the ANI site at South Beach. Most families with young children living close to the site are voluntarily evacuating their homes for the duration of this lengthy remediation. More than 25 children and their families have now left the area. The State Government has turned a blind eye to this dire situation – Fremantle member Jim McGinty refuses to speak to residents about it. No compensation has been offered by Stockland or the State Government to relocate concerned families. More below childrens picture |
Photo of Dr Ian
Alexander Town
Planner, Pierre Brescianini and Adele Carles Solicitor, taken in
front of the ANI site at South Beach on 22.3.06. These pipes were
not exposed in 2003. They are clear evidence of dramatic erosion
taking place at South Beach. The CSIRO has recently reported on
climate change, rising sea levels and the impact of erosion along the
WA coastline. The State Government must urgently review its
decision to allow housing on this eroding strip at South Beach.
Who will pay for the damage when the houses are threatened by the
coast? A clear case of 'wilful blindness' on the part of the
Government and the developer Stockland. Greed at the expense of
common sense. Add your comments to
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Federal
MP Dr Carmen Lawrence speaking at our rally |
January 2005: SOUTH BEACH RESIDENTS SUE STATE GOVERNMENT
over its failure to consult them before it approved the ANI remediation
plan at South Beach. (see latest
on
notice board top right)
We are asking the Supreme Court to rule on the question of whether
residents living near contaminated sites have a right to information
and a right to be heard on the information. If we succeed in
Court:
* the State Government approvals for the ANI site will be
set aside
* our scientists will have the opportunity to independently review the
plan for us
* the State Government will be required to consider the views of the
community and our scientists as part of its assessment process
* this will set an important precedent for all communities in Western
Australia living near contaminated sites, by establishing a legal right
to information and to be heard on that information
June 2004 letters
from DoE
and
DoH to DPI listing serious failings in Stockland's
first two EMP's.
December 2004:
15 December 2004 - local
residents gathered at the site after hearing that the Government had
approved the remediation plan before releasing it to the public.
14 December 2004 - WAPC clear all
environmental conditions for the ANI site. Stockland is now free
to excavate the site. Stockland has not released this remediation
plan for public comment, but we do know that the planned 5 metre
excavation of this old lead smelter site is to take place without a
cover and without any EPA involvement. This is a high risk proposal,
given the windy nature of this coastal site with local residences and
public amenities close by.
Download
our November 2004 Flyer plus 2 other pdf reports
SPOKESPERSON ADELE CARLES SAYS,"PUBLIC SAFETY
IS OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY. We do not believe that the developer
can safely remediate this site for housing. We have not found one
example anywhere in the world of a site as contaminated as this, on a
windy coastline, being remediated for housing. This is a
high risk experiment that the developer and the Government are
embarking
upon and the residents of Fremantle are set to be the guinea
pigs.
So what is our solution?
Ideally, all of the contamination should be removed in a safe manner -
this includes all
of the contamination to the south of the site and in the dunes.
This would cost tens of millions of dollars. Unfortunately no-one
is offering to fund this option and whether such contamination could be
removed safely on such a windy site is debatable.
We say that the only safe solution is for the Government to claim this
site back now under the 100m setback provisions of the State Coastal
Policy. It appears that the safest and most cost effective option
is for the site to be encapsulated and capped with soil or
concrete. This means leaving the contamination where it is, as
the risks associated with disturbing it are too great. The site
could be used as a carpark and recreational area."
For photos of October 2003
rally . Click to
see more photos. Speakers calling for the ANI
site to be public land included, Dr Carmen Lawrence, Jim Scott,
lawyer Adele Carles, community member Chrissy Lauritz, Lee Bell
(Contaminated Sites Alliance), John Hammond (Keep Cott Low), and John
Keall (Save our Sunsets, Scarborough).
Main Issues, any one of
which we say makes the ANI locality unsuitable for
housing
[1] Contamination see map and drill results from the developers Feb 2004 report showing that almost all drill holes encountered soils with metals exceeding health guidelines, lead up to 16,000 ppm (1.6%) and commonly several thousand ppm
[2] Coastal Setback,
we
say, "...apply the law.." in the Governments own "Coastal
Policy" and implement the 100 metre setback.
[3] Railway noise
which
will increase with planned traffic increases, the
normal railway housing set back of 65 metres should be applied
[4] Erosion Issue For 2 pdf
reports, 1 into criteria of cliff retreat and 2, the
study of aerial photos which demonstrates 40m of beach retreat since
1994.
The Government and developers seem oblivious of
the high rate of erosion in progress over the last decade as evidenced
by their inaccurate statements (see "Exactly what land ?" link above),
about the proposed setback at the south end of the ex ANI
land. The 2002 photo-map below shows the southern boundary
of the ex ANI land is east of the "spiral" shaped shrub patch on
the bike path.
The first air photo from 1994 shows sand right out to the old
end of the Island Street groyne, marked G, note width of beach &
vegetation at south (right) end.
This photo from 2002 photo shows the stunning erosion over 8
years, note groyne extension post 1994.
Click on photos for larger pictures
We contend that the high rate
of erosion of about 40 metres in a decade (at the south
end of ANI land) makes a mockery of the set backs proposed for the ANI
development.
We ask
the Government, "...what is so hard to understand about
the extreme rate of coastal retreat revealed
in their own air photographs ?" Retreat of the cliffs
is mainly due to wave action in storm surge enhanced high tides. See
Coastal tide data website in links list,
go to Fremantle FBH link for graph showing any tide surge which often
occur during passage of westerly fronts.
Contact: You can email us at mail@savesouthbeach.com
Links
Groups pushing for better coastal planning outcomes.
sosScarborough is about to commence another battle with the City of
Striling
Council and would appreciate any publicity
http://sosScarborough.com
SaveOurBeaches is a collection of Coast Care issues Australia wide
and
currently with a WA focus.
http://SaveOurBeaches.Info
Keep Cott Low has been formed with the objective of keeping
buildings, particularly along the Cottesloe foreshore, to a reasonable
scale and dimension.
http://www.keepcottlow.com/
All about Scarborough Beach
http://scarboro.info/
Stockland in NSW is in conflict
with the Save Sandon
Point group, where issues are often similar to our concerns
at South Beach. Sandon Point is located between Thirroul and
Bulli about 15 - 20 kms north of Wollongong. Read their "The
Sandon Point" newsletter look for their "the sandon
point" link and
understand better how Stockland operates. Check their website for other
downloadable newsletters.
Other SSB Links
ABC News "Fremantle housing development delayed"
http://www.abc.net.au/wa/news/200406/s1135636.htm
The Lead Group
http://www.lead.org.au/
OZTOXICS.org
http://www.oztoxics.org/
OZTOXICS.org online library
http://www.oztoxics.org/cmwg/bb_reference%20library.html
Keith Buxton's Broken Hill lead site http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/kbyits/
Property developers are among the largest donors to political
parties ?
Our members search for some answers.
http://au.geocities.com/barking_dogs2003/
Coastal Independents 26 February 2005 campaign
http://www.coastalindependents.com/
Conservation Council of Western Australia (Inc.)
http://www.conservationwa.asn.au/
WA Dept for the Environment
http://www.environ.wa.gov.au/
Coastal tide data site, graph storm surge height for different
localities. When westerly gales blow, check this site for tide times,
see the storm surge graphically and go down to the cliffs at high tide
to see the erosion happening.
http://www.coastaldata.transport.wa.gov.au/tides/storm_surge_index.html
WA Planning Commission
http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/
Freo Focus web site has local Fremantle news including reports on
our rally.
http://freofocus.com
Jim Scott media release on South Beach
May 2003
http://www.mp.wa.gov.au/jscott/media/coveringsouth.26.6.txt
September 2003
http://www.mp.wa.gov.au/jscott/media/ANIcoast25.9.txt
May 2003 news item from Murdoch University on toxic issue re South
Beach cliffs
http://emunews.murdoch.edu.au/SOUTHBEACHTOXICDANGERALERT.htm
Richard G. Hartley - Western Australian Gold Smelters in the 1900s
and the Northampton connection
http://www.econs.ecel.uwa.edu.au/AMHA/Newslett/news26.htm