FEDERAL LABOR PROMISE TO PROTECT COAST WELCOMED BY NSW ENVIRONMENT GROUP
Tuesday, 04 May 2004 10:00
A NSW environment group has welcomed the Federal Opposition promise to take substantial steps to protect the Australian coast from inappropriate development.
The Total Environment Centre which has worked on coastal protection and problems with over development for many years said the proposal made by Federal Labor leader Mark Latham and Shadow Environment Minister Kelvin Thompson to work with State governments to advance coastal protection through better planning would be a huge improvement on the current situation.
"Although protection of the coast falls largely under State and Local power, the lack of action at these levels to stop the problem at its source through strong and unambiguous planning legislation has been frustrating to say the extreme," said TEC coastal campaigner Fran Kelly.
"Substantial Federal input that prevents some of the worst excesses of overdevelopment would be welcome indeed and planning is the key word."
"Over the past few years we have documented and been informed of hundreds of inappropriate proposals and approvals that are now being seen in the concrete sprawling from Tweed to Bega Shires in NSW. In other states the problems are no less with a spate of canal estate proposals recently coming to the fore in Victoria and Tasmania and the others states largely continuing with their anything goes on the coast attitude," said Ms Kelly.
"One of the main reasons for the excessive sprawl so familiar to anyone who lives beside or has visited the coast in recent years is a complete lack of ability by so many local councils to do anything other than rubber stamp inappropriate proposals by developers and base all their planning around the demands from those same developers. In fact in so many cases the councils are the developers or mates of the developers."
"In tandem with this problem has been a lack of strong action by most State Governments to ensure that proper planning procedures are followed and environmental protection legislation is implemented where necessary. The excessive clearing, and loss and degradation of coastal vegetation, dunes, wetlands, lakes, rivers and estuaries and the water and other infrastructure problems being experienced are some of the side effects of a climate where speculators and developers rule," said Ms Kelly.
"The vast majority of people living on the coast place proper coastal protection at the top of their wish list. At the last council elections in NSW most candidates promised to protect the natural environment from inappropriate development. Even the candidates standing for developers promised the same knowing it would get them votes. It goes without saying that any moves to protect the coast would be popular.
"The further protection of wetlands through Ramsar listing, a willingness to use the EP&BC act more to provide stronger protection against inappropriate proposals are two areas we welcome in addition to the forming of better planning legislation that places the land's capability and environmental constraints at the forefront. We look forward to seeing the details as they emerge," said Ms Kelly.
For further information
Contact
:
Fran Kelly - Coastal Campaigner
Phone
:
61 2 9299 5599
Email
:
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:
http://www.tec.org.au/
