Council is opposed to the State Government's plans to locate a cruise terminal in the regenerated waters of Botany Bay.

Background

The State Government has ignored ex-navy officer Peter Collins 2017 report into cruise ship terminal locations. They have decided our beautiful Yarra Bay which sits quietly on the eastern shore of Botany Bay is the only option to install a cruise ship terminal. The current estimate of costs to taxpayers is $500 million due to the unsuitability of the site. The government has now released a heavily redacted version of The report of the Cruise Industry Reference Group by Peter Collins you can view it here.

The whole of Botany Bay has been carefully managed to rectify the impacts of heavy industry. Much time, money and research have been spent including the current restoration by Council of Lady Robinsons Beach. We believe a cruise ship terminal including new breakwaters will have a detrimental effect on our restoration work and could result in Botany Bay beaches virtually disappearing. You can read more about the regeneration project here.

Targetted efforts have resulted in a calming and settlement of containments deep into the seabed, we are concerned dredging for a cruise terminal may disturb this and have serious negative impacts on our biodiversity and marine life. The chaos of dredging seabed sediment (spoil) and a breakwater will impact the whole of Botany Bay which includes Towra Point Nature Reserve, Dolls Point, Sandringham Monterey, and Kurnell. Given the unsuitability of the location, dredging would not be one-off occurrence but cyclical and will impact marine life which has flourished with the support of our million-dollar artificial reefs aimed at restoring biodiversity in the bay. In addition, the NSW Ports Masterplan states - "All new development at Port Botany is subject to a climate change risk assessment" (pg84). We would like to see the risk assessment with the updated risks that the cruise terminal will bring.

Yarra Bay also holds cultural significance for our first nations people and we support the La Perouse Aboriginal Land Council's involvement in opposing this location.

Our Yarra Bay is now calm, gentle and nestled in Botany Bay and enjoyed by locals. The bay is in such a position now the Department of Primary Industry website states:

“Botany Bay is a great example of a productive, accessible and very diverse recreational fishing hot spot located almost smack bang in the middle of Australia’s largest city. It’s an amazing fishery well worth exploring....”

In addition to our concerns on the environment, biodiversity, diesel particulate pollution, noise and loss of recreational pursuits due to port restrictions, and land acquisitions; we are also gravely concerned about the impact on our roads. We also believe the Sydney Gateway Road Project and Botany Rail Duplication would potentially be nullified by traffic congestion requirements of the proposed Cruise Ship terminal. You can read more about traffic around Port Botany here(NSW Ports Masterplan).

With the possibility of 120 buses a day transporting thousands of passengers from Yarra Bay directly to the city to spend their money, we also see little to no economic benefit for Bayside. In fact, we predict it will have a negative impact on Council budgets, it will be Council that will need to pick up the bill to pay for ongoing destruction and maintenance to our environment and roads.

We also acknowledge and support the safety concerns voiced by the Maritime Union and also wish to learn more about impacts for the Sydney Airport around wind shear, lighting, and visibility.

What's is Council doing?

• We support the position of the Save Yarra Bay Coalition Group
• We support and respect the spiritual and social connection to the land and the position of the La Perouse Aboriginal Land Council and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• Council is taking action - at our Council Meeting on 13 November we have committed funds to advocate for the community. You can view the minutes here.
• We are also calling for the immediate release of all related documents on the proposed cruise ship
  terminal including reports and data used to create the reports
• We are sharing our data and research with the neighboring Council to maximize our resource
• Bayside is currently contributing over $200k towards a study to design a solution for the erosion and negative consequences of development in Botany Bay
• We are having ongoing meetings with relevant authorities including Port Authority
• Writing to our Ministers and MPs formally rejecting the NSW Government’s proposal for a cruise
  ship terminal in Botany Bay. You can read the letters here.
• Advocating for our community

What can you do?

There are many ways for community members to voice concerns about Yarra Bay. Below are some of the ways you can Have Your Say.

Lobby the State Government

Follow this link to Save Yarra Bay Coalition page to find templates and contact details

or contact the Member for Cook and ask him to help us save our shared beloved backyard, Botany Bay;

Hon Scott Morrison MP

PO Box 1306 CRONULLA NSW 2230

Email: https://www.scottmorrisonmp.com.au/contact-me-in-my-role-as-the-member-for-cook/

Contact the Port Authority

Have Your Say https://www.yoursaycruisecapacity.com.au/have-your-say

Join a community group

Support Save Yarra Bay go to their site to get involved and read latest news https://saveyarrabay.com/ or go to Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/SaveYarraBay/

If you want to become involved in the campaign to Save Yarra Bay, or can offer expertise or advice, please contact the Coalition at: saveyarrabay@hotmail.com

Show your support for the La Perouse Aboriginal Land Council

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