Smith Bay seaport proposal should be abandoned, Kangaroo Island Council says

A Kangaroo Island timber company should abandon current plans and find another location for a seaport, the local council says.

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A timber company should abandon its plan for a seaport at Kangaroo Island’s Smith Bay, the local council says.

Kangaroo Island councillors will oppose Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers’ (KIPT) project because of concerns about its potential impacts on the environment, the neighbouring Yumbah Aquaculture abalone farm and local homeowners.

Mayor Michael Pengilly said Yumbah employed about 30 people at Smith Bay and it was vital the business’s operations were protected.

“The council is quite adamant that Smith Bay is the wrong place and it cannot coexist with aquaculture,” Mr Pengilly said.

He said the company’s staff had not properly considered other places for the port.

“We want to see a port and we want to see these trees gone, but it’s completely the wrong location,” Mr Pengilly said.

“There's 500km of coastline on Kangaroo Island and why they even thought about doing it at Smith Bay is beyond me.”

KIPT directors Graham Holdaway, Shauna Black, Paul McKenzie (chairman) and John Sergeant (managing director) at one of the company's softwood plantations. Picture: Supplied

Instead, Mr Pengilly said the company should direct its energy into finding a site west of Stokes Bay Rd, closer to local plantations and where the water was deeper.

The project’s environmental impact statement shows Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers would need to dredge about 100,000 cubic metres of sediment and rock at Smith Bay.

It noted a risk that work associated with the deepwater port could cause hearing loss in southern right whales, and would require the loss of about 10ha of habitat.

The council will meet tomorrow to formalise a submission on the proposal to the State Government.

Yumbah Aquaculture’s Kangaroo Island abalone farm is about 400m away from the development site.

Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers is planning a deepwater port at Smith Bay. Picture: Supplied

Director Anthony Hall said the seaport’s social, environmental and economic impacts would be “profound”.

“For four years, this threat has loomed and stalled our intentions to invest in and grow our Kangaroo Island business,” Mr Hall said.

Kangaroo Island Plantation Timber managing director John Sergeant said he could not provide an up-to-date cost estimate of the project but it would be “substantially more” than the $30 million price tag previously flagged.

Smith Bay was an ideal location because of its proximity to the island’s plantations, and position outside of marine parks, he said.

Mr Sergeant said it was also already industrialised, would have minimal environmental impact and would not negatively affect Yumbah.

“The elected members are elected to run the council and the board of our company is elected to make business decisions, and no sensible board would choose to develop an inferior site in a marine park,” he said.

Public consultation runs until May 28.

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