No Tillegra Dam Group

You are invited to a public information meeting organised by the Save the Williams River Coalition on
“Tillegra Dam - Environmental and financial folly or water necessity?”

What: The controversial proposal for a major new dam on the Williams River in the Hunter Valley will cost over $340 million and flood an area the size of Sydney harbour. The following speakers will discuss the project:
Carol Pasenow, Williams Valley resident
Stuart White, Director, Institute of Sustainable Futures
Cate Faehrmann, Executive Director, Nature Conservation Council of NSW
John Kaye, NSW Greens MLC
When: Monday September 1, 5:15pm for 5:30 start

Where: Jubilee Room, NSW Parliament House, Sydney

This is an exciting time to be taking climate action - the next few months will determine Australia’s response to climate change for years to come. Be part of Australian history. The Australian Government has invited community comment on its climate change policy, and we need to demonstrate that the community is mobilising for strong climate policy.

For six weeks during August and September, the GetUp Climate Torch Relay will tour right across Australia - through rural towns and capital cities in every state and territory - on its way to Parliament House, Canberra on September 21. Along the route local communities are hosting legs of the relay, which calls on our leaders to halve Australia’s greenhouse pollution by 2020.

Where: Tillegra Bridge on the Williams River.
When: Sunday 24th August 11am
What: Support the campaign to stop the proposed Tillegra Dam by coming along for a morning picnic. Watch and cheer as the torch is floated down the river on a raft, collected by athletes and then ran across the bridge. Hear from campaigners and local residents about the impacts the Dam will have on climate change.

Should you require assistance with transport to the Tillegra Bridge at Dungog, please contact Vanessa 0409 021 976 to organize buses or car pooling from Newcastle.

For more details go to http://www.climatetorch.com/ or contact Vanessa Culliford on 0409 021 976.

There are a large number of large dams (>15m in height or >5m and holding at least 3 billion litres) throughout the world. Construction of large dams reached its peak in 1980. However, following research which revealed that “construction of large dams is not the solution to the problem, but rather postponement of problems with far higher risk,” construction of large dams drastically dropped in the 1990s.

Apparently, dam burst study has been excluded from the Tillegra Dam Environmental Assessment at the request of the environmental consultants, Connell Wagner. The reason most likely is that it would alarm the residents of the Williams Valley if they knew the consequences of a dam burst at Tillegra.
continue reading » »

The article below was written by Dungog resident Fran Crane and an abridged version of it was published in the Newcastle Herald.

River of hope-but doomed to be dammed

It’s mid-winter and cold amidst the rolling hills and fertile river flats of Dungog, in the Hunter Valley. On a bend of the Williams River, overhung with ancient ironwoods and casuarinas, a man in a wet-suit plunges into the icy water. He scours the rocky river-bed for hours, sometimes even days on end, searching for something, something quite unassuming in appearance but something he regards as special and of great value. That “something” is fresh-water mussels. continue reading » »

A response to the Tillegra Dam CRG Forum - Growth through imposition…

Growth in this context refers to the idea of individuals and communities becoming stronger and developing their resources in order to evolve towards their full potential and natural maturity.There are two main kinds of imposition that humans must face which can involve growth. One kind is the result of so-called acts of God, catastrophes or accidents with negative, sometimes tragic consequences that the victims of which have no choice but to come to terms with and make the best of. The other kind results from choices and decisions made by people with power, either political, social or economic, trying to impose their will, often with the best or good intentions, but sometimes not, on others with less power. In a democratic society the people who do not wish to have these decisions imposed on them have the choice and right to resist them.
continue reading » »

‘Growth through imposition’ - you’ve got to be kidding! More like ‘How I gave up my democratic rights and learned to love the dam!’

Up until Sam Bailey’s presentation I was very disappointed with what we were hearing at the so called forum (a public meeting for OPEN discussion) held last Wednesday evening (6 Aug 2008) at Dungog High School. It had been promoted as a chance to hear from and discuss issues with tourism experts and other dam affected communities about making the best of it. Each of the 6 speakers prior to Sam made numerous assumptions and presented various ‘facts’ which left one wondering if they had really thought about who they were talking to - do they really know or care about our situation or were they at the wrong meeting? continue reading » »

Could someone at Hunter Water clarify the role of Mr Rod Williams please? I am asking this because not long after the announcement of the new mega dam by our infrastructure savvy premier, Morris Iemma, Mr Williams visited my home unexpectedly in the role of community support officer. He was accompanied by a psychologist. I had never met either person before but gave up approximately an hour and a half of my time detailing the enormous upheaval this unnecessary dam was going to cause and how we were losing all our neighbours and probably our whole way of life. continue reading » »

Anyone who did not see NBN-the region’s television station’s recent (July 21-25) short series of articles by Penny Evans can watch them on-line here. Also you can watch here 3 on-line videos of the news coverage of the original reactions after the announcement by the NSW government to propose a dam at Tillegra… continue reading » »

There will only be 30 days in which to submit a comment or critique on the Environmental Assessment Report (EAR) by Hunter Water (HW) on the Tillegra Dam proposal. HW expects to submit the EAR to the Department of Planning for formal consideration around mid-2008 (late July-August?). The EAR will outline the findings of the environmental and social investigations, identifying impacts of the proposed dam and how HW proposes to manage those impacts. Matters to be considered include potential impacts on:

* Water quality
* Environmental water flows
* Riparian vegetation
* Cultural and heritage values
* Terrestrial flora and fauna
* Movement of fish and other aquatic species
* Socio-economic impacts and opportunities

Submissions need to be posted to: The Director, Major Infrastructure Assessments, Department of Planning, GPO Box 39, Sydney NSW 2001 continue reading » »

According to Dr Simon Fane, Research Director from the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) at the University of Technology, Sydney there are ten myths about the proposed Tillegra Dam that are easily debunked. The ISF are recognised experts in water supply/demand planning and demand management, having advised many government and regional authorities on cost and water saving measures. the following is an edited version of a presentation that Dr Fane gave at the Wise Ways to Water Forum held at Wangat Lodge in April this year. continue reading » »

Once considered to be drinking water of the first water, but now considered to be that which passes through a water meter. This watering down of the concept started with the water people testing the water and then going to water so that town water can now originate from water closets, or indeed, from watering the horse. It is doubtful if the phrase town water will hold much water in the future, as water tanks result in it no longer remaining above water. Many consider town water to have already become water under the bridge.

Ms Cecelia McDowall
The Dictionary Wit

“Devastation does not seem to be enough to describe the shock and incredibility…

The announcement to build a dam at Tillegra has divided the community of Dungog, families and friends. It was the last straw for so many on the land who have battled through droughts, floods and deregulation. To be told through the press, without any prior consultation or consideration that all that you have worked for in the past, and all you have out laid for the future, for your children and grandchildren’s future, is to be taken from you without any justification or consideration is truly demoralising.”
continue reading » »