Beako the giant Eastern curlew at the 2022 Welcome Back Shorebirds event
The Toondah proposal has been the catalyst for letters and submissions from across Australia and the globe. This post includes two Toondah submissions and a letter calling for the total number of submissions to be made public.
Join the debate on Toondah or other topical issues on these pages. Send your letter (or a copy of your submission) to: theeditor@redlands2030.net
How many Toondah Submissions?
According to a report in the Redland City Bulletin, Dolan Hayes from Walker Group questions whether thousands of people made submissions objecting to the Toondah PDA debacle.
Too bad for you- because accountable and accurate portal numbers from Toondah Alliance members, including Birdlife, ACF, AMCS and Redlands2030 confirm more than 24,600 submissions were made by way of objection to the EIS and the development.
The unprecedented number against the development proves the local community has serious objections to the draft EIS and development in the Bay.
Additionally, many who object to the proposed action wrote Toondah submissions without using a portal. My simple request to Walker Group is to release the total number of submissions…this should be done as a matter of public interest.
V.S.
Cleveland
Focus on improving the ferry terminal
I support improvements to the ferry terminal at Toondah Harbour but am strongly opposed to the Walker Corporation project as a means to achieve improvements to the harbour.
The EIS states that a new harbour and public transport infrastructure, facilities and amenities for ferry customers and visitors will be constructed south of the existing vehicle ferry loading area. These works will be undertaken concurrently with the first reclamation stage and overlap the existing ferry terminal and boat ramp aside from a 1.5 ha section to the south of the current car park made up of a disused dredged material disposal pond and a 0.7 ha patch of mangroves.
As well as the environmentally destructive impact of the size of the project, location, dredging and disused dredged disposal, as well as the disturbance, pollution and loss of amenity, the Walker Corporation’s approach to harbour improvements is deceptive and exploitative. In return for a ferry terminal which the community wants, Walker Corp will be the principle beneficiary of a massive development project which is neither wanted nor needed. It will be a breach of Australia’s obligations to protect the environment and exchange the federal Government’s responsibilities for Walker Corpration’s for commercial gain.
This area of Moreton Bay is declared under federal and state legislation as a Marine Park and Ramsar wetland. This is because of its significance in the the protection and management of biodiversity. Signatories to the Ramsar Convention commit to conserving the wetlands within their jurisdictions and will promote their wise use, which typically involves low- impact agricultural and fishing practices and minor infrastructure for tourism, recreation or education which do not significantly impact on the environmental sensitive values of the wetlands. Moreton Bay was designated as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in 1993, meets all 9 Ramsar criteria and performs a critical, and irreplaceable role for the migratory birds of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. The Walker Corporation’s project is not wise use of this nationally and internationally significant site.
I call on the Federal Government to reject the Toondah EIS and establish a working group of Federal, State and local government and other community representatives and business, including the Quandamooka people to re-examine ways to build and fund ferry terminals at Toondah Harbour without the significant environmental damage of the current proposal.
The first step in should be 2D and 3 D hydrodynamic modelling to capture the effects of meteorological and fluvial impacts on bay biodiversity, seabeds and foreshore areas and the impact of future storm surge and sea level changes. The modelling will then inform not only the construction of improved transport services but also a new educational environmental centre which will be complementary to the harbour and a centrepiece to attract researchers, tourists and visitors to the area.
Transport infrastructure and economic development can go hand in hand with environmental protection if the approach is transparent, accountable, collaborative and ethical. I call on Minister Plibersek to acknowledge this approach and reject the Toondah Harbour EIS.
R.B.
Redlands
Disregard for Ramsar is appalling
As a signatory to the Ramsar Convention, Australia has international obligations to protect Toondah Harbour, part of the Moreton Bay Ramsar Wetland. The proposed development by Walker Group at Toondah Harbour, as canvassed in the draft EIS, runs directly contrary to many of our international obligations to the Ramsar Convention.
Australia was one of the first signatories to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat, 1971. It is one of the oldest international conservation treaties. Australia in fact designated the world’s first Ramsar Site – the Cobourg Peninsula in the Northern Territory.
Signatories to the Ramsar Convention commit to conserving the wetlands within their jurisdictions and will promote their wise use, which typically involves low-impact agricultural and fishing practices and minor infrastructure for tourism, recreation or education which do not significantly impact the environmentally sensitive values of the wetlands.
Moreton Bay was designated as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in 1993, it meets all 9 Ramsar criteria and performs a critical, irreplaceable role for the migratory birds of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.
Wetlands are experiencing the fastest rates of destruction and degradation of any habitat type with 35% of the world’s wetlands having been destroyed or significantly degraded over the last 30 years. This decline has put over a quarter of wetland-dependent species at risk of extinction.
While development within Ramsar Wetlands is not prohibited, large-scale residential and commercial precincts that permanently destroy parts of Ramsar Wetlands, such as what is proposed at Toondah Harbour, are not considered “wise use,” have never been approved in Australia and inconsistent with the objectives and obligations under the Ramsar Convention.
Most of the Toondah project’s footprint is within the boundaries of the Moreton Bay Ramsar Site, and the development would result in the permanent and irreversible destruction of over 40 hectares of the Moreton Bay Ramsar site.
The draft EIS claims that the destruction caused by the Toondah PDA equates to only a fraction of the entire Moreton Bay Ramsar Site. This justification is erroneous. The Moreton Bay Ramsar boundary was recently assessed through the Queensland Department of Science, and the boundary was confirmed as including the Toondah Harbour precinct. Destroying matters of national environmental significance, no matter the scale, is incongruous with the objectives of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
I could go on but it is clear that the draft EIS does not set a path by which Australia’s obligations to protect the Toondah wetlands can be achieved.
A real estate development is not “ in the urgent national interest” nor is it “ wise use” under the Ramsar definitions. Nor is it acceptable for the Queensland Government and Redland City Council to try and shift responsibility for protecting the Ramsar area to the private sector through the EPBCs EIS process. That sleight of hand deserves, in its own right, formal investigation.
In the meantime, Minister Plibersek should reject the EIS, refuse EPBC permission and at the same time the Queensland Government should revoke the PDA.
J.C.
Thornlands
More Toondah Submissions
Toondah Project – Perspectives And Questions About The Draft EIS
Cumulative Impact, Privatisation, And Political Donations
Local Residents Say NO To Toondah
Redlands2030 – 21 January 2023
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