RITES MERCURY TALKING POINT
-THE FACTS ABOUT THE LONG DELAYED GOLF COURSE -

The golf course proposed for Arm End Reserve (Gellibrand Point Nature Recreation Area) at Opossum Bay was first given planning approval by the Clarence Council in April 2013 but the proponent has not started the development after more than 7 years. The pipeline which is proposed to take treated effluent to the golf course was approved in April 2019 and it also has not started. The Clarence Council has advised us on 8 September 2020 that the golf course planning permit is valid until 1 April 2022. The permit cannot be extended beyond that point and if the project has not been substantially commenced the permit will lapse. In anticipation of the permit lapsing RITE has launched a vision for an alternative to the golf course – more on that later.
Over the last year the proponent has repeatedly announced the imminent commencement of the golf course and pipeline only to have the deadlines pass with no work occurring.
The council permit for the golf course has been extended twice and a long list of permit conditions are yet to be delivered on by the proponent. Additional permits are required from the EPA to irrigate with treated water and from the Australian government and parks and Wildlife Service regarding the rare and unique spotted handfish. The community is right to question why the proponent keeps making promises that work will occur when Council and other regulators tell us that they do not have approval to proceed with construction.

In the May 2019 edition of the South Arm Peninsula Residents Association newsletter the proponent said the pipeline would start in 3-4 months but nothing happened.
In the Mercury on 3 August 2019 they said a start would occur Arm End in 3-4 months but November came and went and no construction occurred.
In the Oct-Nov 2019 edition of the SAPRA newsletter they said construction at Arm End would start in 3-4 months, meaning December 2019 to January 2020. They have put up what they claim is a site office but no golf course construction has occurred.

In a 14 February 2020 Mercury article the proponent said pipeline works would start in 5 weeks. However this deadline has later abandoned.

On 31 August 2020 the proponent told the Mercury the water pipeline (which includes a section that goes under the river bed in Halfmoon Bay) would commence in November 2020. But they won’t be able to do test drilling until then because of the permit requirement to avoid the spotted handfish breeding season. If the tests find the rock type is inappropriate for constructing a pipeline then it cannot be built. We believe that these claims of imminent construction are just attempts to convince investors to come on board and to win over the local community. It is unlikely that work will start anytime soon on either the golf course or the pipeline because there are numerous additional approvals that have not been obtained.

Approvals not yet obtained are as follows:

The Council planning permit for the golf course requires the proponent to produce numerous management plans and have them approved. On 21 April 2020 Council said that only the weed management plan has been approved. Not approved are: engineering designs; erosion and sediment control plan; landscape plan plus a bond; and an environmental management program. The Council planning permit for the pipeline requires the proponent to produce numerous management plans which as of 2 April 2020 were not completed. The Parks and Wildlife Service confirmed on 23 July 2020 that they have not given approval for test drilling in Halfmoon Bay. We understand that Australian Government approval regarding impacts on spotted handfish is also required before construction can begin on the golf course and treated effluent pipeline.

Before the treated effluent can be used at Arm End approval is required from the Environment Protection Authority. A conflict exists, which has not been resolved, where the golf course permit requires that public access to Arm End Reserve be maintained at all times but the EPA requires that the public be excluded from the reserve during and after irrigation using treated effluent.

I don’t think this development will ever gain all required approvals and investment seems unlikely given the projects history.

If the golf course permit lapses on 1 April 2022 then RITE wants to be ready to propose an alternative to the golf course. On 30 August 2020 RITE launched its vision for Arm End Reserve. Thirty mainly locals attended to view and discuss an exhibition of nine project posters with  digital images showing the alternative vision. This includes low scale infrastructure improvements, a concentration of interventions at the track head such as picnic shelter and interpretation elements and rehabilitation to enhance the passive recreational experience and enhance the Arm Ends's wildness and remoteness, while improving protection of Arm End’s natural and cultural values. This vision is an alternative to golf and makes a case for passive recreation.

The concept plans and digital images have been produced to incorporate ideas from numerous locals and other users of Arm End, heritage and conservation experts and architects who have been consulted over the last 24 months.

 A WIN for the Spotted Handfish thanks to successful Tasmanian planning appeal

The Tasmanian Conservation Trust [TCT] and Re Imagine The End  [RITE] Founder and Spokesperson Robyn McNicol have had a great victory in Tasmania’s planning appeal’s tribunal that saves the spotted handfish population at Halfmoon Bay from a destructive pipeline proposed for a golf course development at Arm End, Opossum Bay. The tribunal made its decision of the Friday 26th April

The TCT represented Ms McNicol in the appeal and we negotiated numerous very important changes to how the pipeline is to be installed. Robyn McNicol, a South Arm resident, initiated the appeal on behalf of RITE to the Resource Management and Planning Appeals Tribunal after the Clarence City Council made serious flaws in pipeline approval permit in February 2019.

As approved by Council the pipeline would have seriously damaged the handfish habitat and killed handfishes directly. Given the limitations of the Clarence city Council planning rules we never had a realistic chance of stopping the pipeline or having it relocated, but we have succeeded in negotiating changes that make the handfish population protected and much safer. TCT and RITE negotiated these important permit condition changes that require the pipeline to be:

•    installed under the sea bed for a distance of more that 500m from shore instead of 200 metres as approved by council;

• installed at least 3.5m under the sea bed and into bed rock instead of 1.5m under the sea bed which made it likely that the drilling equipment would penetrate the sea bed and damage habitat and handfishes;

• all works must be done outside the breeding season of the Spotted Handfish which the council did not require.

Peter McGlone said “The Council made a serious error in its decision and it has taken a courageous community group and the TCT to make changes to protect one of only ten known populations of the Spotted Handfish in the world. Most disappointing was that the Clarence City Council’s original approval would have allowed the pipeline to penetrate the seabed in the middle of the handfish population.”

Robyn McNicol said “This win for the handfish has required a local community and conservation group’s efforts to ensure the best protection for a critically endangered species, which was otherwise ignored by council. The Spotted Handfish is now a lot safer with numerous additional conditions being place on the development as a result of a mediated outcome.”

Picnic + Walk Sunday March 17

Meet at entry gate 11am Arm End Reserve for maps and guide.
3 walks offered, short, medium and long. Picnic at 12.30

PROPOSED PIPELINE
FOR ARM END GOLF COURSE

Appeal lodged against the
effluent pipeline for Arm End

2 March 2019
South Arm resident and Coordinator of Re-Imagine The End Robyn McNicol this week commenced an appeal against Clarence City Council's approval of the Arm End effluent pipeline. The appeal application was made on Wednesday 27 February to the Resource Management and Planning Approvals Tribunal. A first hearing is scheduled for 12 March 2019. The water pipeline aims to provide water for the long delayed Arm End golf course. The grounds for the planning appeal relate to the impacts of constructing the pipeline under the endangered spotted handfish population at Half Moon Bay using horizontal drilling technology and the risk of the pipeline breaking during operation.
My appeal grounds are that the proposed pipeline will adversely impact habitat of the spotted handfish through direct disturbance e.g. the drilling of the pipeline and associated works. The proponent has failed to address the requirements of the Planning Scheme in relation to the spotted handfish and the conditions proposed by the Clarence City Council are inadequate.

Robyn McNicol
RITE Founde

What is the legacy of the pipeline

[ROBYN MCNICOL DEPUTATION SPEECH]
CLARENCE CITY COUNCIL MEETING
4th FEBRUARY

What is the legacy of this pipeline proposed to bring waste water 6 km’s across the Derwent and 6.8 km’s through the south arm peninsula just to irrigate a golf course. Its legacy brings devastating consequences to the indigenous cultural landscape and the natural environment.

The cultural landscape is rare/precious/intact and unique.  There are visible and hidden cultural sites, for 10s of 1000’s of years arm end was a meeting place for our traditional peoples, this place tells a story about people, land, river and water – it signifies the entry to the Derwent visible from many places including Kingborough, Hobart and Clarence. Arm End was reserved as a recreational place of state significance.  It is a place of value to many. People visit to view the bioluminescence, scuba dive, walk with family and friends, a destination for  international or interstate visitor.  It has potential to unite and reconcile white settlement with traditional owners. It is a place we can build a positive cultural history.

For the last 6 years the reserve has been embargoed and mothballed by the developer.  No progress has been made, no significant rehabilitation, only failed plantings, there has been no serious consistent weed control or planting apart from coastcare work. The developer continues only to roll over permits, increase their scope and introduce new proposals.  The community is prevented form enhancing the reserve. Now the community is being prevented to enter the Reserve. I have spoken with people in the aboriginal community and they are deeply hurt and offended, they did not endorse the golf course and they do not indorse the pipeline, the legacy of this pipeline is damage to Tasmanian Aboriginal Heritage.

The pipeline represents a risk to the natural coastal environment there is great potential for damage, and if this water spills into the river;
there are no mitigation plans for the  survival of the endangered spotted Handfish, and
there  are no management plans to stop existing vegetation being destroyed .

Access into the reserve will be restricted. The extensive golf course design does not allow for walking and neither does irrigation. No where in Tasmania is a public reserve subjected to artificial irrigation – no reserve is irrigated with nutrient rich environmentally risky water.  The council should refer the biodiversity and the coastal protection codes in the Clarence City Council interim planning scheme and refuse this development.

The economic and social return from Arm End Reserve becoming a coastal cultural walk of significance far outweighs the damage this pipeline will do to our cultural and natural heritage.

ARM END WATER PLAN OUT OF BOUNDS

LETTER TO THE MERCURY DECEMBER 30 2018
[ROBERT OWENS - NEWTOWN]

 At the entrance to the incredible Arm End reserve is a sign: “Welcome to The Arm End Public Recreation Reserve” and “Extensive walking and cycling tracks, cycling, bird-watching, open play spaces, fishing and nature interpretation, a world-class 18 hole golf course” Yes, this precious public asset, this incredibly beautifully peninsula - arguably the jewel in the crown of the Derwent, this site of state significance is going to be turned into a “golf course” and it needs water. I read in the Mercury, Sunday 16th December, that developers have submitted a DA to pipe water from Blackman’s Bay to the site. They describe it as “quality water”, the Mercury correctly points out that it is Class B water.
The use of recycled water comes with strict caveats. There are many, but to mention two. Taswater states in its document, “Using Recycled Water Safely”:  www.taswater.com.au/Customers/Recycled-Water“In areas where there is public access, including golf courses, access to irrigation areas must be restricted for a minimum of four hours after irrigation or until irrigation area is dry”.  And, “Recycled water irrigation must not occur if there is a risk that the public will sustain skin or aerosol contact”. So good people of the public, forget about taking the dog for a walk around Arm End before work. And, if you’re from South Arm and the developers have ‘dangled the carrot at you’ and told you you can access the “quality water”, don’t use it on your veggie garden or for the chooks, and make sure, if you use your sprinkler, it’s not within 100 metres of your home.  

57 Representations were sent from individuals opposing the re-use pipeline via RITE

SUNDAY MERCURY ARTICLE
16 December 2018

Stop the Arm End effluent pipeline

Currently the Clarence City Council is assessing the Development Application Pipeline D-2018/455 lodged by the developer.

Read why we believe this application should be refused.

The Arm End golf course proponent wants to construct an effluent pipeline under the Derwent River and along South Arm Road to Arm End Reserve. The effluent pipeline will irrigate the long delayed golf course with treated water from the Blackman's Bay sewage treatment plant. Using effluent will exclude the public from Arm End reserve for lengthy periods and its use will turn many locals and visitors off ever visiting the reserve. The high nutrient effluent will damage regenerating native vegetation around the reserve's coast. The endangered spotted handfish will be at risk from drilling and spillage of effluent.

The only concession the community has from the golf course proponent was guaranteed public access at all times but they are now going back on that promise. This is the fourth alteration to the Arm End golf course proposal and this development by stealth must be stopped.

You can help us protect Arm End Reserve and the Spotted Handfish by making a representation to Clarence City Council. Fill out the form with your message to council.

The Clarence City Council (CCC) should refuse the pipeline because:

1. Severe impact on recreational access and enjoyment:

Irrigating the proposed golf course using treated effluent will prohibit the public from entering the reserve while irrigation is occurring and for a lengthy period afterwards. Excluding the public and spraying effluent on Arm End Reserve contravenes the CCC Planning Scheme by:

• impacting "adversely on the recreational use of the land" (18.1.1.1. Zone Purpose, Recreation Zone).

• failing to "complement and enhance the use of the land for recreational purposes"
  (18.3.5. Discretionary Use Performance Criteria, Recreation Zone). 

2. Effluent impact on Natural Values of Arm End and adjacent areas

The use of high nutrient effluent to irrigate 40 hectares of the Arm End Reserve (greens and fairways) and the potential for effluent to go beyond the target area (spray drift and flow) will have:

• unacceptable impacts on the reserves native vegetation including threatened plants, contrary to the CCC Planning Scheme (27.1 Purpose, Natural Values Code); and

• unacceptable impacts on the natural values outside the reserve e.g. local beaches and bays including the Spotted Handfish population at Mary Ann Bay, contrary to the CCC Planning Scheme
  (2.1. Purpose and 3.0. Objectives (see note). 

 3. Impact of treated effluent on native species not assessed

The use of treated effluent will have negative impacts on nutrient intolerant native species and benefit many weed species, which has not been assessed and is contrary to CCC Planning Scheme assessment requirements (E.27.5 Application Requirements, Natural Assets Code).

 4. Installation and operation of pipeline could destroy Spotted Handfish population at Halfmoon Bay

The drilling and installation of the pipeline underneath Halfmoon Bay could go dangerously wrong and damage the habitat of the endangered handfish. Contrary to the CCC Planning Scheme, no provisions are in place for preventing drilling accidents or mitigating impacts if they occur. (2.1. Purpose and 3.0. Objectives - see note).

 During its operation the pipeline could be damaged and effluent damage the Halfmoon Bay Spotted Handfish adults and their eggs during the breeding season. Contrary to the CCC Planning Scheme, no provisions are in place for preventing pipe damage or mitigating impacts if it occurs (2.1. Purpose and 3.0. Objectives - see note). 

NOTE: While the municipal boundary only extends to the high tide mark, the proponent must have regard to the Planning Scheme purpose and objectives that require a development to be sustainable and threatened species protected