Download the 27May YWYS Media Release - Blockade as a pdf

27th May 2008

Community blockades desalination site

Your Water Your Say (YWYS) joined members of the local community today – Tuesday – to successfully blockade the entry of the horizontal drilling machine to the site of the desalination plant. The six trucks were delayed for 6 hours when a deeply concerned community decided they had no other option but to act.

Neither the Federal nor State Governments are listening to serious concerns of the citizens or to the Bass Coast Shire Council that they are continuing to ignore. Both Governments are also now pursuing court costs from YWYS which it knows very well doesn’t have any funds to pay them.

The Bass Coast community is outraged by the total lack of decency with which they are being treated by the Government and disappointed that the only option available to have our concerns heard are actions of this nature.

Andrea Bolch, President of YWYS, says “this community has been banging on doors for nearly 12 months now and the government has responded to our calls for explanations with nothing but rhetoric and we are tired of being ignored. What option does a community have but to stand up for itself when a government decides it won’t listen and it’s expendable?”

Mums, dads, children, teachers, students, farmers, business operators and senior citizens descended on the site when word spread that the horizontal drilling machine was heading to the site.

YWYS also believes the contractors are contravening the Environment Management Plan with an excavator forced to turn around yesterday at the gate to go away and be washed down. Despite requests to provide on-site monitoring to ensure contractors are adhering to the plan, no independent monitoring is in place.

Ms Bolch says “it’s hard to believe that we have been driven to this point when all we have been asking for are explanations as to why this last resort solution has been chosen and what the real cost is to water users.”

Contacts:

Andrea Bolch
President
PH: 0400 065 253

John Wright
Vice-President
PH: 5678 7083
PH: 0428 787 083

Chris Heislers
Steering Committee
PH: 0419 556 381