A win for Pelican Point

The local community campaign to save Port Adelaide's Pelican 
Point from industrial development achieved "a huge victory" last 
week with the Government's announcement that the proposed ship-
breaking facility will not go ahead. The fight, however, is not 
over, with two other developments (a power station and sewage 
treatment plant) still being contested.

Pelican Point, near to the mouth of the Port River, and 
surrounding areas have been described as the Kakadu of Adelaide.

Bird Island, adjacent to Pelican Point, has achieved world 
recognition for its environmental importance, yet the surrounding 
area is threatened with the heaviest kind of polluting 
development.

The wetlands and waterways around Pelican Point provide feeding 
and breeding grounds for a vast array of native birdlife, 
fishlife and Bottle-Nosed Dolphins.

The proposed developments would result in enormous pollution of 
the waterways. The power plant would produce a thermal effluent 
plume, would release chlorine into the river and likely cause 
algae blooms, affecting sea grass and fish larvae.

The sewage plant would have an outfall pipe at the mouth of the 
Port River -- right near Pelican Point.

Local activist David Kirner told The Guardian that the 
announcement on the ship-breaking facility was "a huge victory" 
in the struggle to protect what should be considered a 
significant piece of South Australia's natural heritage.

In a letter to Mr Kirner from Premier Olsen, which shows the 
effect of pressure from the local community, the Premier said, 
"The Government recognises that there are real concerns about the 
feasibility and suitability of a project of this sort in an area 
such as Port Adelaide. It has decided that it will not be 
prepared to consider the project being undertaken at Port 
Adelaide."

The Government proposed Whyalla as an alternative site, but the 
companies involved in the shipbreaking proposal (Deutsche Bank, 
Air Liquide and P&O) have rejected Whyalla and suggested they 
will look interstate for a new site.

The Government has also put off approving the sewage treatment 
plant, saying it will make a decision later this year (possibly 
to let the issue cool down) and that in the meantime it will be 
looking at other options.

The power station, however, will need immediate action if it is 
to be stopped because pylons are already being laid. It is 
necessary to stop all these developments in order to protect 
these natural areas.

Since the Government's announcement, Mr Kirner has written to the 
Minister For Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs, 
Dorothy Kotz, seeking to nominate Pelican Point, which is 
government-owned land, for a Conservation Park.

The local action group will be taking up the campaign around this 
proposal.

In another positive development for the fight to protect Pelican 
Point, an Aboriginal land claim by the Kaurna people has been 
made on the Point.

The local action group will be holding a public meeting to 
consult on future courses of action, on Monday, October 18, at 
Port Adelaide Town Hall. Contact David Kirner 0413 705 110.

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