CITY HALL RALLY SAYS “TAKE A LANG WALKER OFF A SHORT JETTY!”

On July 15 2004, almost 1000 people gave up their lunch hour to attend a rally at Hobart’s City Hall organised by Save Ralphs Bay Inc to send a clear and unequivocal message to the Lennon Government that it must not allow Tasmania’s unspoiled coastline to fall victim to a rash of inappropriate developments.

The Ralphs Bay Conservation Area, about 30 minutes drive east of Hobart, has been earmarked as the site of a 800 house and 400 berth marina development by the Sydney-based Walker Corporation.

Although a concrete proposal has yet to be put to the Lennon Government, the plan has met a wave of community dissent culminating in the successful bid to fill City Hall with concerned Tasmanians.

Speakers at the rally included Dr Pam Fenerty who led the campaign to stop the development at Crescent Bay on the Tasman Peninsula; Professor Jamie Kirkpatrick from the University Department of Geography and Environmental Science who outlined the damage to coastal environments caused by canal developments; and Rumney Labor MLC, Lin Thorp who spoke from the perspective of a Clifton resident personally opposed to the Walker plan.

Save Ralphs Bay representative Cassy O’Connor told the rally that Gold Coast style canal developments had already been banned in NSW because they are environmental and social poison.

“We will fight them on the mudflats, we’ll stand between the bulldozers and the birds if it comes to it,” she later told reporters.

 "Our hope is that the Lennon government will recognise that the Walker plan is a stinker and after a formal proposal is put in that a sound political decision will be made to stop this plan going any further.

“Greed has triumphed over beauty in too many places interstate and here in our beautiful state of Tasmania we have an opportunity to stop it from happening.”

Lin Thorp MLC said any proposal would be assessed under the State’s robust planning system.

“Tasmania is certainly open for business, but we are only open for business for those developers who are committed to valuing our environment and our communities the way that we do,” she told reporters.

“Any developer must be aware that any proposal will be very closely scrutinised and it will not be approved unless it’s in the best interests of Tasmania.”

A review of the state’s coastal policy is underway, with the deadline for comment November 5, 2004.  It is the strong view of SRB Inc that the Walker plan should not enter the formal planning system, either as a Project of State Significance, or through the Clarence Council.  This was restated to Lin Thorp at the rally – to pass on to her colleagues in the Lennon ministry.

Dr Jamie Kirkpatrick told the assembled crowd, most tourism operators he had spoken to “abhor the onslaught of development in national parks. National parks are the basis of their income. It is what people come to see… getting a suntan and going to nightclubs is not why people come to Tasmania.”

Kirkpatrick called for an “almost 100% tax on windfalls from rezoning land”. “If our politicians are as dumb as mainland developers think, we should replace them with a more user-friendly crew”, Kirkpatrick declared.

Walker Corporation was not invited to attend the rally, and on past and present form it is unlikely Kevin Hunt, Walker Corporation’s project manager for Tasmania, would have taken up the opportunity.  Apart from a three and a half week stint running a temporary office at Lauderdale during May, and occasional public appearances before select audiences, Mr Hunt has been an elusive advocate of the ‘exciting new lifestyle’ Walker Corporation is offering.

Some time and distance from City Hall later, Kevin Hunt released a statement to say the company was working on a revised concept for Ralphs Bay.

“We have completed our preliminary community consultation period and we are now working on a revised concept for Ralphs Bay, based on that community feedback,” he said in the statement.

“We will then put the project proposal formally to the state government next month.” (Ed: that was what he said in July.  Three months on, and we are still no wiser to the makeup of the final Walker plan for the Ralphs Bay Conservation Area)

“But I can say that all of the issues identified by our studies and by the public during the consultation phase, we are confident would be addressed during any formal planning approval process.

“We would like the opportunity to do this, but there is still a long way to go.” (Ed again: Not if we have anything to do with it, Mr Hunt)

Update – 17/10/04

On 27 September 2004, SRB Inc handed over the results of our own community consultation; a comprehensive response to the developer’s less-than-sincere effort, which left many local residents feeling angry and disempowered.

After a short ceremony on the steps of Parliament House, a small delegation delivered more than 2500 signed letters; almost 1000 signatures; hundreds of personal messages in our Comments Book and a detailed submission on what we believe are too many unethical and unlawful elements to the Walker proposal. 

Minister Judy Jackson did not make herself personally available to collect the results of SRB Inc’s work on behalf of worried residents.  Adviser Peter Pearce performed the honours and was talked through the content by group members.

Earlier, SRB Inc representative and former Lauderdale Primary School Principal Bill Edmunds told the crowd, “This is a government that gives the impression it doesn’t listen; and if it does listen, it doesn’t hear!”

As the Minister examines our community response, and we await the delivery of Walker Corp’s modified proposal, SRB Inc can only hope the voice of the people who love Ralphs Bay does not fall on deaf ears.  Until there is a sharp and positive shift in the prevailing political philosophy – not words, but direct action to protect the coast - we will continue to campaign for the protection of Ralphs Bay and Tasmania from harmful and greed-driven development.

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