Proposed Bromelton State Development Area
From the FOSEQ & BCAT petiton:
The BSDA extends along the Logan River through Beaudesert Shire with an area about 30 km by 10 km which is 300 km2. [Govt pages here]
Concerned residents are uniting to have their voice heard over the development of a " noxious, offensive and hazardous industries" site outside Beaudesert. The scope for the land use is mooted to include nuclear treatments.
The Private sector now owns or has options on the BSDA and the government is distancing itself from responsibility for any direct management. Locals feel that the Narangba experience has indicated that the government has difficulty responding to emergency through the lack of funding, coordination and expertise in mitigating minor environmental mishaps.
Risk include: Siting on a major river has an exacerbating effect which may poison our waterways as well as atmosphere, soils and vegetation.
Why are we concerned?
1. State Development Areas do not need to comply with IPA - Integrated Planning Act. ( including community consultation, input, negotiation workshopping) There may be conflicts with the Regional Plan as it stands.
2. Environmental Harm concerns include water quality, air quality, 300 km2 heat island replacing a carbon sink, biodiversity havens will be lost as industrial sheds multiply, land clearing will not be monitored under the state development criteria and regionally significant natural areas will be lost.
3. Loss of greenspace on one of the last remaining intact areas of the Scenic Rim that purifies water facilitates sequestration of greenhouse gases, provides good quality soil maintenance, maintains biodiversity, and increases human wellbeing.
4. Loss of scenic amenity. The recent proposals include 8 x 5acre industrial sheds.
5. Loss of the limited supply of good quality agricultural land in SEQ hence distancing food sources even further and forcing higher food prices for all in SEQ.
6. Noxious, hazardous and offensive industries need to be scoped and monitored.
7. This project is developer driven.
8. The process quarantines lands for 50 years +
9. The social impact assessment has not been conducted for the 460 property owners under the proposed footprint of the BSDA, or those immediately outside who may not be aware let alone advised of the future impacts of living in that vicinity. There is also concern for the monetary value of land under if forced to sell.
For more information – FOSEQ 3345 1800 Beaudesert community action team - Home (07) 55431181 Mobile 0411 361 044
Media + Multimedia
A public meeting was held on Nov 15, 2007:
[audio file pending]
E-petition
We write to seek support to extend the public consultation time past 12 November in order to understand and to review the land use proposals for Bromelton State Development Area. (BSDA) This area includes the scenic rim, Beaudesert, Kooralbyn, Logan River , and small towns in between. We seek action to: Extend public consultation period beyond 12 November for 3 months A series of public meeting to inform citizens of the regulatory oversight for the development plans to reassure sustainability in our region. Provide a transparent system for accountability for decision-making in ownership and operational management of the originally agreed areas for transport and related multi-modal industry, and for future land uses within the macro state development area. Stop nuclear treatments in our region.
What you need to know
The hazardous industries in Narangaba can give some indication of what to expect in Bromelton:
Chemicals released into the air and water by the Binary fire at Narangba include: 2,4 D, diuron, glyphosate. Also Chlorpyrifos which is banned in the US due to their risk to children, and Bifenthrin which is banned in Europe due to it's toxicity and link with cancer.
Other hazardous industrial chemicals in use at NIE include Cobalt 60, PCBs and Copper Chrome Arsenate.
Cobalt 60 is a nuclear by-product used in the irradiation industry (Steritech at NIE) which emits gamma rays. Exposure to gamma rays can cause cancerm radiation burns and birth defects, exposure of food to gamma rays results in decreased nutritional value. [more]
A polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) destruction facility exists in Krypton St, Narangba (Base Catalysed Dechlorination (BCD) Technologies). PCBs are amongst the most toxic chemicals known, and one of 12 POPs (persistent organic pollutants) and have been banned worldwide. BCD Technologies also are licenced to destroy organochlorine Pesticides and are the sole Australian facility for the destruction these materials.
Copper-chrome Arsenate is a timber treatment used widely to protect against termites. A move to have in banned in Australia is afoot after it's connection to cancer was discovered.
The first to raise concern were Melbourne's Croydon Conservation Society, and Friends of the Earth, which tested play ground equipment and found levels of arsenic as high 70 times the maximum safe limit.
It is already banned in the USA and Europe. [REPORT: Treated Timber, Ticking Timebomb, Nina Lansbury Hall]
Other useful resources:
Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants [pdf] DEH
Mass Media Coverage
Take a Virtual Tour of Narangba Industrial estate
with Mick Petter, Cooordinator of the Brisbane Regional Environment Centre
@ Radio4All recorded by Community Radio 4ZzZ102.1fm
Uranium Mining?
Queenslanders say NO!
A 2005 Morgan Newspoll showed that 70% of Australians are opposed to the development of any new uranium mines. Go to www.teambeattie.com to find your local Labor member and drop them a line. You can find a sample letter outlining the issues [here]
Sign up to the GetUp Climate Action Now!
[here] "With more than 15 million Australians of voting age, we're aiming for a
target of 250,000 people to help create a groundswell for change in every electorate across the country."