Dear friends and supporters,
Today, Judge Dodds handed down his decison in our ongoing court hearing against the mega quarry and the news was not good. He ruled against us on all our four main points.
We are still going over his 38 page judgement and it will be available for download from our web site as soon as we decide what our next steps are going to be.
Never before did we need your support as we do today. We have taken a significant hit in our campaign to have the approval of this quarry set aside. Neilsens have, by today's decision, virtually been given permission by the court to carry out massive quarrying based on a 23 year old approval. Even as the decision was being handed down, Neilsen's were challenging Sunshine Coast Regional Council's authority to issue them with a Show Cause Notice in relation to outstanding conditions of the development approval.
Judge Dodds appears to have relied heavily on the belief that the SCRC supports the quarry development, in opposition to the Kin Kin Community Group view. This appears to have weakened our case in His Honour's eyes. It will now be up to the Council to demonstrate whether they have the ability or the will to control the development which confronts us.
Recent developments at Moy Pocket quarry are a clear indication, if one was needed, of what we are facing. Currently up to 200 truck and dog trailer combinations are leaving the Moy Pocket quarry for Tin Can Bay every day.
The Council-managed road is in a state of deplorable disrepair and Gympie Council cannot afford to maintain it. In our own situation, there is nothing in the Neilsen Quarry Management Plans which will indemnify SCRC for damage to our roads. Nor is there any money available from Main Roads to rebuild their sections of the local road network.
Great emphasis has been placed on the "importance" of this resource to the wider community. Perhaps more could have been placed on the damage it will inevitably do to the lives and lifestyles of thousands of people effected by it, but who will receive little or no benefit from the quarry output.
Arguments were made in the Court (and the judge has given them weight), that the Kin Kin Community Group might be a small sample of the local population and might not represent the majority in the community. While acknowledging that we are a legal entity entitled to bring this action, he intimated that our support base was not evident. It is now time for all our supporters to be heard. Write to the papers. Reply to this email or leave us a message on our Contacts page. Join our group and add your voice.
A battle has been lost today but the fight must go on. We have to pick ourselves up and work on making this Council honest, and our Councillors accountable. The quarry operator must be made to realise that we will not tolerate rough-shod anything-goes attitudes. They will comply or we will continue to oppose them. We do not have to have our lifestyles destroyed through corporate greed and personal self-interest. We need to unite and fight.
Kind regards
Quarry Action Group
