Hon Paul Lucas MP
Deputy Premier and Minister for Infrastructure and Planning
GPO Box 2644
Brisbane QLD 4001
25th January, 2008
Dear Minister,
We are very concerned about the failure of State Planning Policy (Landslides) following the recent numerous landslides at Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, in particular the one from the steep hill slope development at Peppers Resort on Mount Whitsunday development site above the Port of Airlie marina/village construction site.
The SPP on landslides states no building should occur above a fifteen percent slope. There is an exception to that if a local government Council can show an acceptable way that building can take place. Whitsunday Shire Council has allowed building on slopes much steeper than fifteen percent. It has also allowed clearing of rainforest vegetation which mitigated erosion slips, and it permitted development construction during the Wet Season. In this case the Council has allowed these actions in an El Nino year when weather forecasts were clearly predicting well above average rainfall.
Slope soils at Airlie and elsewhere in the Whitsundays are unconsolidated and contain small to large boulders. They can easily fail once thick vegetative cover is removed, especially following rainfall. Slope failure occurs when intense or prolonged rainfall infiltrates and saturates the soil pores. When the additional weight of the water reduces soil strength beyond a critical point the slope fails and sediments and boulders flow down slope under the force of gravity.
The slope failures above the Port of Airlie marina/village sent a wall of mud-laden water through this marina/village development, vastly exceeding the ability of the silt retaining walls within the marina to constrain it. A thick sediment plume was photographed heading out to the Great Barrier Reef waters offshore. An extensive sediment plume also headed out to the Reef lagoon following rains in Feb 2007. Locals are telling us that they can no longer dive on the near shore islands because of a huge drop in visibility in the sea. Sediment pollution also suffocates stationary marine life and affects marine food chains. This is a planning and enforcement issue.
As the current SPP (Landslides) policy and its implementation is not working to prevent the natural hazard of landslides in Airlie can you please advise us what your department will do to change current practices and correct the problem as soon as possible? Each sediment pollution event further damages marine life offshore in the Whitsundays and in the latest event, heavily affected local tourism businesses.
Sincerely,
Patricia Julien
Coordinator
Mackay Conservation Group
(Regional Conservation Body - Whitsundays to Sarina and Northern Bowen Basin)
PO Box 826, Mackay 4740
Ph: (07) 4966 8025
E-mail: pafjulien@hotmail.com
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