[Greens-Media] Tas Greens_Minister Must Answer on Prince of Wales Bay Illegal Reclamation_C O'Connor MP

[greens at parliament.tas.gov.au]

ALLEGATIONS OF ILLEGAL LAND RECLAMATION IN PRINCE OF WALES BAY

Minister Llewellyn Ignoring Known Problem

Cassy O'Connor MP
Greens Shadow Environment Spokesperson

Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Contact: State Parliamentary Offices of the Tasmanian Greens, (03) 6233
8300

www.tas.greens.org.au


The Tasmanian Greens today highlighted ongoing, unapproved "reclamation"
in Hobart's Prince Of Wales (POW) Bay, and called on Primary Industries
Minister David Llewellyn to reveal why he hasn't demanded Crown Land
Services (CLS) enforces its own regulations to protect the Derwent
foreshore.

Greens Shadow Environment spokesperson Cassy O'Connor MP said a large,
concreted pier structure has been steadily advancing into POW Bay off
Gepp Parade for a number of years, but neither the Minister, nor his
Department have done nothing about it despite the issue being raised
directly with them by an informed member of the public in early 2005,
and the Tasmanian Greens last year.   

"The large pier structure has been extended using concrete fill - and
lots of it.  This structure will be almost impossible to remove without
creating a huge disturbance.  The Minister and his Department of Crown
Land Services have seemingly not even given the property owner in
question a slap on the wrist, despite conceding the "reclamation" work
does not have planning approval," Ms O'Connor said.

"The very unfortunate message this sends to the wider community is that
the River Derwent is a real estate frontier in the eyes of the Tasmanian
Government which appears incapable of ensuring the foreshore is
protected from inappropriate activity."

"When this issue was raised by the public and taken to CLS in 2005, the
officer who responded told a member of the public the reclamation
activity was illegal.  Despite this, the reclamation has continued and
actually accelerated since that date."

"Members of the public brought this problem to the Greens after their
complaints to CLS resulted in no discernable action being taken to halt
the reclamation, so we wrote to the responsible Minister David Llewellyn
in April last year and received a reply in June 2007, stating that the
matter is being investigated - to date, the 5th of November, nothing
more has been heard."    

"The question now is, do we live in a state where illegal reclamations
are ignored while they occur and then rubber-stamped after the fact?"

"If there is clear evidence of unlawful foreshore earthworks, a
prosecution should be launched by the responsible agency," said Ms
O'Connor.




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