The shearwater, or muttonbird chicks are leaving!

Watershed volunteers are getting organised over the next few weeks (Easter onwards) to protect the young shearwater birds leaving the Bass Coast for their annual migration to the Arctic (read more in Bulletin No11 on the Watershed website).

Training for monitoring around the plant and between Wonthaggi and Kilcunda Saturday 23rd April 2011. Meet at the Lower Powlett carpark at 6.30pm. Bring warm cloths, torches and good humor. Further details ring 0413 902571.

To read Watershed’s media release  click here

The link below will take you to the letter Watershed recently sent to Greg Hunt the shadow minister for the Environment. It includes maps showing the many whale sightings made this winter.

letter-greg-hunt

Dear Watershed Supporters

As you all well know, we have endured during these past four years a pig-headed cover-up Government that would not consult, explain, listen, engage, and thankfully they are now gone. We have been vindicated.

Here’s hoping the new Government brings a fresh approach to water, a sustainable water future.

There are published signs of change.

Premier Ted Bailleu on Stateline before the election, and the wider media afterward, has undertaken to release the full desal contract if legally allowed, and to examine if the project can be scaled back which would bring cost savings, environmental savings, and an opportunity for other water options to be advanced in the future.

I welcome too the appointment of Peter Walsh as the Minister in charge of water Statewide, a positive step away from factionalised city/country water policy and projects.

Thankyou to everyone who has helped bring this change about, and we look forward to a new era of politics with prospect of new water beginnings.

best wishes everyone for a merry Christmas, a happy New Year, and the end of a long drought in respect both of rainfall and inept Government.

Stephen Cannon
President

WATERSHED VICTORIA

‘We’re still here!’ Christmas picnic celebration

WHEN: Saturday 11 December from 5.30pm

WHERE: Mouth of the Powlett River.

WHAT TO BRING: Bring a picnic, musical instrument…

DRESS CODE: Colourful attire

http://www.makebrumbyhistory.org/

This website and rally have come to our attention, and we note that mention is made of the desalination plant among a number of controversial issues and projects within our State.

Your Committee did not endorse this reference, and accordingly we are not a sponsor of the rally or website in any way, or affiliated with all the interest groups cited.

As for the political sentiments expressed, we will leave everyone to make their own decision about how to vote on 27th November, and about whether to participate in the rally.

We have many times made note of the Policy misrepresentation by this Government leading to the last election, and their failure to answer our questions or explain their desal backflip, and that speaks for itself.

best wishes and we do hope you think carefully and make your vote count on 27th November, it seems the Government have not been listening to us this past 3 years.

Stephen Cannon on behalf of the Watershed Committee.

Peter Ryan Nationals MP speaks to the crowd at rally on steps of Parliament 6-10-10 while
Msr Degremont counts his billions and unhappy Melbourne water consumer watches his costs.

Rally outside NAB when letters asking bank to disinvest in desal project were handed in.

“Scrap the Desal”  Rally on the steps of Parliament

Midday on Wednesday 6th October

We have had a amazing few weeks with the Brumby Government under intense scrutiny over the financing of the desal fiasco.

This is a crucial time, coming up to the state election - Parliament is sitting and politicians are listening.
Join us and bring your outrage at the money we will be paying for the next 30 years to fund a wasteful energy guzzling project which even Labor insiders are now questioning.
Listen to speeches on canning the desal contract.

See Timmie the giant desal tap, all the way from Gippsland!

More info 0407 811 778 or answers@watershedvictoria.org.au

If you can’t come, you could contact your MP and the Premier john.brumby@parliament.vic.gov.au (03) 9651 5000 calling for scrapping the desal plant and replacing it with sustainable cheaper alternatives.

www.watershedvictoria.org.au

Watershed contributed a float for the street parade celebrating Wonthaggi’s 100th birthday.

We secured an honourable mention from the judges for our efforts and we think the miners of old would appreciated our efforts to stand up against Government arrogance and injustice.

The float represents the inlet pipe sucking up 30,000 tonnes of marine life each year, the outlet pipe and its potential for both short and long term consequences. Also the predominant theme of the cost of water, where government previously said water bills would no more than double, but the Essential Services Commission has now had to admit it may need to further vary water prices due to the cost of the plant.

As requested both Westpac and Nab sent representatives to a meeting with Watershed representatives at Kilcunda on Wednesday 14th October.

Results of our meeting with the banks in relation to our concerns about them not meeting their ethical investment guidelines:

• A presentation was given by Watershed pointing out our concerns and some background to the issues. The banks filled us in on various aspects of how they see their obligations and how they assessed the project.
• The banks have assessed this as a B-grade environmental and social risk project (from an A to C or no ranking range). Our fears were well founded, in that they admitted they largely relied on the proponents environmental assessment (as poorly scoped and resourced as it was), to give the project an acceptable risk assessment.
• Both banks used a consultant firm, originally employed by AquaSure, to “do their assessment”.
• The banks agreed that ongoing assessments would be required, although the scope or scale of this was not available.
• They claimed ‘confidentiality’ as their reason for not previously consulting Watershed, and for not immediately being able to address some of our concerns.
• The consultant, who was present, said he believed that alternatives were not available, based on previous work he had done for Government, and an unspecified document he did not name or indicate availability of.
• Watershed pointed out that by relying on a flawed EES and failing to consider all issues the equator principles 2 and 3 in particular had been inadequately addressed. After our presentation there was general agreement that the issues around using desalination to secure Melbourne’s water supply were many and varied.
• Watershed have left the banks with a list of issues that we feel have been inadequately addressed including some of the above and also the following; we have requested they furnish us with responses to these concerns in a timely fashion:
  • Why was the project given a category B status given the scale, implications for future water policy, location, multiple areas of impact, unresolved concerns and unaddressed issues involved?
  • How can their environmental assessment be adequate given that it either did not, or only inadequately addressed issues such as the need for baseline studies, choice of site or processes, climate change implications, social issues and cumulative impacts of this project over time and with existing and future projects?
  • What do the banks see as ‘consultation’, what will the following plans contain and when will they be available:
    • ’social environmental management plan’
    • ‘borrower’s grievance mechanism’
    • ‘works environmental management plan’
    • ‘ongoing environmental monitoring plan for compliance’ ?
  • What degree of public transparency will the banks require of the above, and when will they be required?

Stay tuned to see whether the banks reassess their involvement in this project or whether we get satisfactory responses to these and other concerns.

• Please continue to send letters with your concerns to the banks, click here.
• Should you be prepared to take action if we do not get satisfactory responses please contact us, click here.
• Click the ‘BANKS’ tab at the top of the page for more information on this issue.

Housing Hardship on the Bass Coast - more desal impacts

If you know anybody in this kind of situation please call Jessica on 0407 307231,

or if you have evidence of specific locations where people have been dislodged from their accommodation, and replaced by desal workers please call Maurice on 0419 552385.  Maurice is also looking for a copy of the EMP (Environmental Monitoring Plan) that is supposed to exist for the works underway at present, should you happen to know where a copy could be found.