Put the people first and say no to dumps

Jim Dodrill says Cr Silver should put people first and say no to any more dumps in Ipswich.

ENOUGH: Jim Dodrill says Cr Silver should put people first and say no to any more dumps in Ipswich. Picture: Rob Williams

I WRITE with reference to the article "Councillor quiet on dump expansion, calls for waste solution” (QT 29/12) on Councillor Kerry Silver's lack of response to a proposed new dump for Ipswich.

Cr Silver has declined to comment on a critical issue in Ipswich and an issue that she campaigned upon to become a councillor. Cr Silver's campaign slogan was Putting People First.

If she really meant this, she would be unequivocally and unashamedly opposed to any new dumps or expansions of existing dumps.

The people of Ipswich do not want more dumps and dump fires and the associated air and water pollution near residential areas and schools.

We don't want any more toxic time bombs like the people of Kingston in Logan had to endure in recent years.

Cr Silver talks about drowning deaths in the water-filled voids, inferring she is happy for new waste dumps to be built to fill these in.

Her suggestion lacks any credibility.

No one has ever drowned in the void being proposed for a new dump and the void where the drownings took place can never be landfilled because of its proximity to existing residences.

The waste from New South Wales will keep pouring into our city while Ipswich City councillors continue approving these applications.

To make matters worse, the council go missing when enforcing their own approvals conditions, as appears to be the case at Swanbank and New Chum.

So, Cr Silver, how about putting people first as our state member has done, and say no to any more dumps in Ipswich?

Jim Dodrill

President, Ipswich Residents Against Toxic Environments Inc.