Gas import plan for Western Port threatens crucial wetlands says Mornington Peninsula council
The next phase in a long-running battle to stop a massive gas project planned for Crib Point has begun. One of the region’s most vocal campaigners says shareholders hold the key to a Blue Wedge victory.
South East
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Mornington Peninsula Shire is taking on one of Australia’s biggest energy companies in a fight to save internationally significant wetlands at Western Port.
The council has declared its opposition to gas import jetty and pipeline project proposed for Crib Point by AGL Energy.
The stance, taken at a council meeting on Monday night, was expressed in a submission to an Environmental Effects Statement prepared for the project.
The council said the proposal “poses an unacceptable risk to the environment for unproven economic and resource gains”.
It said the EES “falls short of demonstrating that potentially significant environmental impacts of the project can be acceptable managed”.
The council also questioned the need to import gas over the medium to longer term, as Australia moved towards renewable energy.
“Mornington Peninsula has committed to zero emissions by 2040, with clear staged targets along the way,” Mayor Sam Hearn said.
“If the State Government supports this project, it will be displaying a lack of genuine commitment to be truly visionary and take real action in transforming our energy sector and protecting the future of our nation and the world.”
Cr Kate Roper said the project “contravenes the spirit and intention” of the UNESCO Western Port Biosphere Reserve which included Ramsar listed wetlands.
“Western Port’s Ramsar wetlands are a crucial part of our ecosystem,” Cr Roper said. “Migratory birds travel here from as far away as Alaska, Siberia, China and Japan and we have an obligation to protect these wetlands under an international convention.”
Prominent peninsular environmentalist Jenny Warfe congratulated the council on listening to community concerns about the project.
But she said the fight against the plan was far from over.
Ms Warfe said changing the course of an EES process once it was in train was “close to impossible”.
“I’ve learnt over the years that even thousands of submissions to an EES – as we saw with the (Port Phillip) channel deepening project in 2008 – are not enough,” she said.
“What we must also do is show how this project does not make sense financially.
“It’s not a long-term solution – even AGL has acknowledged that.
“That’s the message we need to be getting to the shareholders. They need to understand that the environment is not a side issue, it plays an integral role in the country’s economics.”
Mornington Peninsula Shire will host an online community information session about the EES on Wednesday from 5-6pm.
It will include more information to help residents make their own submission.
To join go to bit.ly/2E45Fml
For more information on the project and on how to make a submission visit engage.vic.gov.au/crib-point-IAC
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