In a double-dose warning to developers, The Minister for Environment and Planning, Judy Jackson, has given the Walker Corporation a July 31 deadline for delivering its promised, ‘modified’ canal estate proposal to government, while also warning developers and councils about the dangers of sea level rise to Tasmania’s coastline.

In an excerpt from a letter written a fortnight ago - after a feisty public meeting at the Lauderdale Hall to mark the year long Save Ralphs Bay campaign to date – the Minister states, “… I do not believe that the timing of your response can any longer be left open-ended.  I therefore advise that in order for the proposal to maintain any formal standing with the Government you will need to provide me with the reports requested in my 4 March 2004 letter by no later than 31 July 2005.”

Save Ralphs Bay Inc. representative, Cassy O’Connor, said the messages coming from Minister Jackson are overdue, but welcome.  “The time for a response from the developer has long passed, so it’s of some relief that Judy Jackson has responded to community calls for an end-date to this terrible waiting game.

“We will, however, continue to maintain that the peninsula community should never have been faced with losing its Conservation Area in the first place, and remains frustrated.

“By July 31, it will have been almost fourteen months since the Walker Corporation closed its very temporary Lauderdale shopfront - more than enough time to absorb the fact that its canal estate proposal is viewed by a significant percentage of Tasmanians as an environmental abomination and a potential slur on coastal policy.

“Whether the developer meets the deadline or not, the Lennon Government must reject the Walker ‘vision’ for coastal development.

“The hard science and grim warnings delivered in the study of climate change and the Tasmanian coast, released yesterday by the Minister, should also put a decisive end to any misguided fantasy that canal and marina estates could in some way benefit Tasmania.

“Given the known risks, any policy or decision-making process that allowed a high-density canal housing estate to proceed in a vulnerable coastal zone would represent nothing short of official recklessness,” Ms O’Connor said.

Geoscientist, Chris Sharples’ study, Indicative Mapping of Tasmanian Coastal Vulnerability to Climate Change and Sea Level Rise, was commissioned by the Tasmanian Government.  It makes specific mention of Ralphs Bay and Lauderdale as low-lying coastal areas highly vulnerable to damage from storm surges and flooding predicted as a result of rising sea levels.

“State and Local Governments, and planning authorities, have a duty of care to coastal communities to respond to the Sharples’ study with a clear eye on the likely future under global warming, and to abide by the ‘precautionary principle’ at every turn.  In this context, and the current review of the State Coastal Policy, SRB Inc. applauds the Minister’s endorsement of the study.

“Its disturbing content provides the Lennon Government with an exit clause for the Ralphs Bay proposal and ALL future real estate grabs at a precious coastline already facing too many possible hazards as a result of human activity.”