Tugun Bypass – A Cause Worth The Fight.
The passage below is an eloquent and heartfelt summary of 7 years of fighting to stop the descreation of the Cobaki area, which has become the C4 route of the Tugun Bypass. To say that this saga is a monument to Government lack ofvision and corporate greed is an understatment.
The summary is quite long, but every word is worth reading. Your campaigners hope that you will help continue this fight for our native species and our heritage and join the Tugun Cobaki Alliance and/ or donate something to help with the court appeal. The grounds for the appeal have been recognised as justified and we await the next stage in the court of appeal.
Court Decision shows part 3A failing – 18/7/2006
Bypassed – Money and develoment versus heritage and environment. Who wins
Tugun Bypass Update – 29/06/06
Gecko is opposed to the C4 alternative for the proposed Tugun bypass. There has been a lot of misinformation disseminated about this issue. Here are some documents with the facts:
Flora on C4
Aboriginal heritage values 1
Aboriginal heritage values 2
Engineering facts
A court challenge to the Tugun bypass has been instigated by the Tugun-Cobaki Alliance in New South Wales with the backing of the N.S.W E.D.O, a not-for-profit legal centre specialising in public interest in environmental law.
Spokesperson for the Alliance , Valerie Thompson stated in the media that the bypass would cut through one of N.S.W’s highest areas of biodiversity among vertebrate and plant species. Valerie added that the bypass would involve the removal of 45ha of native vegetation and be likely to cause the localised extinction of the long-nosed potaroo, wallum froglet, wallum sedge frog and common planigale. Known archaeological sites in the vicinity of the chosen route were also at risk of being damaged or destroyed during construction.
The appeal is one of the first court challenges to a decision made under the new Part 3A of the N.S.W. Environmental Planning and Assessment Act and takes away the rights of the public to have a say in matters of utmost importance to the future. Part 3A gives the Government power to ignore cultural heritage law, environmental law and community concerns.
The Alliance wants the existing route to be upgraded at a much lower cost than the multi-million dollar C4 project and a change of attitude by the authorities towards traffic problems.
More info: Bypass C4 Route Challenged (Tugun Cobaki Alliance)
Media Release:
Tugun Bypass – Hasty Opening Despite Environmental Damage – 18/03/2008
Tugun Bypass Tunnel Causing Damage to Wetlands – 06/02/2008
Beattie government bulldozes bush, biodiversity, and ancient aboriginal cultural heritage for Bypass – 24/02/06
Court Decsion shows part 3A failing – 18/7/2006
Letter to the Editor:
Courier Mail – 23/12/05
Response to Media:
Re: “Shame on Greens” – Gold Coast Bulletin, 02/06/06