No Tillegra Dam Group

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Joanne McCarthy in an open letter to the Premier Kristina Keneally in the Newcastle Herald  today  clearly implores the Premier to Dump the dam, ma’am. Her points are simple and succinct:

• Projects that have been foisted on their communities for political reasons and that don’t stack up under sustained scrutiny from many different analysts including some from within government departments (in the case of Tillegra – Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, Department of Investment and Industry, NSW Office of Water, and the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority), and despite political and bureaucratic stonewalling can be reversed e.g. Sydney’s underground CBD Metro.
• The cost of the Tillegra project is being forced on Hunter residents.
• The need for the dam has not been justified.
• ‘HWC has used outdated information, simplistic approaches to data analysis and in some cases, has misused data to promote Tillegra as necessary for the Hunter.’
• The process has been flawed and full of misleading spin.
• The community will not re-elect a party that it can’t trust.

Premier you will need to make your mind up knowing that the community already has made its.

The cost of building the controversial Tillegra dam could climb to $1 billion because the site has complex geological issues that have been ”ignored”, the State Government has been warned. In an article in the Sydney Morning Herald by Louise Hall, January 14, 2010 hidden data is revealed that could sink the dam and the NSW Labor Government if they ignore public outrage…

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The official submissions to the Department of Planning for the Part 3A application from both the NSW Office of Water  and the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority  (CMA) are deeply critical, suggesting that the proposal does not conform to state law and policy and is based on outdated climate change information and would damage the lower Hunter wetlands. There are clear official calls to stop the $450m Tillegra Dam.

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The people of the Hunter are already paying for a proposal (Tillegra Dam) that hasn’t even been approved!  Residents want to know what they are paying for and why, when clearly they are opposed to this destructive project…

In a recent survey, the majority of respondents (73 per cent) agreed with the statement “the dam is expensive and the money could be better spent elsewhere in the Hunter”.

Seventy-seven per cent agreed that there were cheaper, less damaging alternatives to secure the Hunter’s water supply such as rainwater tanks and recycling.

Sixty-seven per cent agreed that the damming of the Williams River would damage the river and the environment.

THE NSW Auditor-General has called on the State Government to produce a “sound” business case before approving the Tillegra Dam and has foreshadowed an audit of the project, which could be done just before the next election.

In a report to State Parliament yesterday, Peter Achterstraat highlighted the increase in the dam’s cost estimate from $342 million to $402 million since its announcement in 2006, and advice from Hunter Water that the Government was not expected to formally approve the dam until “at least” April 2010.

Mr Achterstraat reported he had written to Hunter Water in September of his intention to audit the business case “used to justify the decision to proceed with the Tillegra Dam”. Read more…

A dam, or a smokescreen

Nathan Rees may have the cabinet he wants, but whether it changes his government’s rashness over major decisions is another matter. Documents requested by the NSW Upper House show that last year Eddie Harris, a senior public servant in the department of the Water Minister, Phil Costa, advised that the $450 million, 450 billion-litre Tillegra Dam is in the wrong place environmentally and anyway will not be needed for 30 years. Only Labor MPs had voted to keep that opinion secret. Yet, as with the CBD Metro, it seems NSW will still get the Tillegra Dam whether it needs it or not, because the Government apparently believes that being seen to make a decision – any decision – will trump making the right decision.

The NSW Water Commissioner, David Harris, has said Eddie Harris’s advice was only that of one senior staff member, and did not reflect the department’s view. That may be so, but the advice forms part of a growing body of evidence that the dam has for some time faced considerable opposition within the bureaucracy. In July, documents grudgingly released by the State Government showed that when the then premier Morris Iemma announced the dam in November 2006 it had not been properly costed. Not only that, Hunter Water had also rated the dam the second least desirable option – ahead of desalination – to provide water to the Central Coast and Hunter region.

Despite the poor assessments, the Government announced the dam shortly before the last election. We have already suggested that the Government had good reason – in the form of several scandals of which the Milton Orkopoulos child sex charges were the most serious – to want to repair its reputation in the Hunter with a big-spending announcement. They, not the Hunter’s water needs, appear the chief reason why the dam was approved.

Of course NSW must ensure its water supply. Two years ago Warragamba Dam levels slipped dangerously. Severe water restrictions moved the public to debate desalination and recycling, and demand why effective catchments were not built decades before. If NSW is to grow and not run dry, new dams will be needed.

But the Government is arrogant, if not outright foolish, to think the electorate will not recognise a multimillion-dollar smokescreen when it sees one: after 14 years they are hard to miss. Mr Harris’s note to Mr Costa also warned that the dam would become embarrassing for the NSW Government. It already has.

Editorial published in the Sydney Morning Herald today.

Rare frog found at Tillegra site: confidence in EAR further undermined

University experts have confirmed that a tadpole found in the locality of the proposed Tillegra Dam is the rare and endangered Stuttering Barred Frog (Mixophyes balbus).

The existence of this species was not confirmed in the Environmental Assessment Report, adding yet further evidence that a six day survey of fauna was not adequate to find and report on the presence of all threatened species that would lose habitat and could potentially be wiped out.

The Greens and NTDG are calling on the Department of Planning to reject the report in recognition of the risk that other endangered species have not been identified and the threat to the Stuttering Frog.

The Stuttering Barred Frog is listed under both the NSW and Commonwealth Government legislation as threatened.  Under NSW legislation the frog is listed as endangered, whilst under the EPBC Act it is listed as vulnerable.  Both categories are high on the threatened species lists. continue reading » »

No Tillegra Dam Group welcomes the announcement by Mr. Peter Garrett today that the Traveston Crossing Dam should not proceed. continue reading » »

On Thursday 12th November No Tillegra Dam Group (Dungog Branch) will be travelling to Newcastle to join the Wilderness Society team and then go on to Sydney to deliver submissions against the Tillegra Dam Environmental Assessment Report.  Meet at Broadmeadow Railway Station at 9am. Even if you can’t come to Sydney the press will be at the station to farewell us – so the more the merrier. Wear your campaign Tshirt (or blue) & a hat.
We have confirmation that Lee Rhiannon ,  Robyn Parker and John Kaye (all MLCs – Upper House MPs ) will come out of question time (12-1pm)  when they can, to show their support.   They are aiming for around 12.30.

See you there!!!   

Submissions don’t forget the closing date for submissions is this Friday 13th November.

Stop Tillegra Dam and Save me a River

When: Thursday 12 November

Where: Meet outside NSW Parliament, Macquarie Street, Sydney Then walk to Department of Planning 23-33 Bridge Street, Sydney NSW 2000

What to wear and bring: Wear a campaign T-shirt if possible and any kind of hat. Bring your own banners with slogans like ‘Stop Tillegra Dam’ and ‘Save me a River’ and bring your voice!
How to get there…

Sydney based supporters are encouraged to use public transport to travel and meet outside Parliament House, Sydney.

Newcastle & Hunter based supporters are encouraged to join The Wilderness Society Newcastle team on their train journey. See details below:

Departing train – Newcastle to Sydney Central

Please note: There is an amended train timetable for this date. Buses replace services from Newcastle to Broadmeadow.

Bus departs Newcastle 08.54 am
Bus arrives Broadmeadow 09.14 am
Train departs Broadmeadow 09.24 am
Train arrives Sydney Central 12.08 pm

Return train option – Sydney Central to Newcastle
Train departs Sydney Central 02.15 pm
Train arrives Broadmeadow 04.55 pm
Bus departs Broadmeadow 05.00 pm
Bus arrives Newcastle 05.20 pm

Cost for return fare Newcastle to Sydney:
Adult $25.00 (Off peak return fare)
Student $18.00

At Dungog Council’s Meeting 20 October, 2009 a motion was moved by Cr Thompson and seconded by Cr Ainsworth that:
Dungog Shire Council be publicly opposed to the proposed Tillegra dam project.

An amendment was moved by Cr Lloyd and seconded by Cr McKenzie that:

1. Dungog Shire Council call on the NSW Government and HWC to provide:

a) A statistically robust attitudinal survey of the residents of the lower Hunter and Dungog Shire.

b) A commitment to undertaking an Upper House Inquiry into the need for the proposed Tillegra Dam and the information presented in the EAR in the NSW State Parliament.

c) A comprehensive analysis of the social, environmental and economic costs, both positive and negative, associated with the Tillegra Dam utilising current best practice as contained in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and Benefit Cost Analysis approaches for evaluation and reporting.

2. That Dungog Shire Council cannot support the proposed Tillegra Dam project as detailed in Hunter Water’s EAR for the project because:

a) The Hunter Water EAR provides for grossly inadequate compensation to the residents of Dungog Shire for the imposition on the residents of the Shire for the proposed Dam;
b) Hunter Water has not made it a condition of approval of the project that the Dam be made available for recreational use on completion and filling;
c) Hunter Water has made no provision for a permanent source of funding to be paid by Hunter Water to Dungog Shire Council annually and in perpetuity from the profit to be made by Hunter Water from the operation of the Dam;
d) Hunter Water has made no adequate provision in its EAR to compensate Dungog Shire Council for the loss in perpetuity of:

i) rate income from those properties acquired or to be acquired by Hunter Water in and around the proposed inundation area of the Dam; and
ii) infrastructure built and installed by Dungog Shire Council in and around the inundation area over the past five (5) years

e) Hunter Water and/or the State Government have failed to make adequate provision for the upgrade of road infrastructure to be used by construction vehicles associated with the construction of the Dam. Such upgrading works estimated to cost not less than $20 million.

3. Advice to this effect is forwarded by letter to all relevant parties, including government and opposition members, Hunter Water, community organisations and to the media.

4. A Policy reflecting Councils’ position is drafted for consideration and adoption by Council at its next meeting, to provide clear guidance to all Councillors and staff for all future dealings with the Tillegra Dam proposal.

The Division resulted in 7 for and 2 against, as follows:

For: Crs Booth, Ainsworth, Johnston, McKenzie, Lloyd, Thompson, Farrow.
Against: Crs Wall, Mitchell.

The NSW Upper House this afternoon ordered the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water and its Ministers to produce documents relating to the Tillegra dam proposal originating in the period March 2007 to January 2009, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye.

Dr Kaye said: “The Greens motion successfully passed with the support on the Coalition, Rev. Gordon Moyes, Rev. Fred Nile and Shooters Party MPs.

“Only Labor MPs voted to keep the expert opinion from the Department secret.

“In two weeks time the people of the Hunter will have access to the advice that the Iemma and Rees governments were receiving from their own water and environment experts.

“Hunter Water’s Environmental Assessment Report (EAR) is completely devoid of critical analysis of the $477 million dam proposal.

“Water Minister Phil Costa continues to spin myths about the need for more water and the cost-effectiveness of Tillegra as a supply option.

“When these papers finally see the light of day, the Hunter community will be able to make their own judgement on the Minister’s propaganda and the nine volumes of Hunter Water’s EAR,” Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455