HANDS OFF OUR PRECIOUS VALLEY!
I have now lodged a Parliamentary Petition calling for an end to the Queensland Government’s proposed construction of the world’s largest hydropower Plant here in the Pioneer Valley region.
The project involves the building of two high dams in the Burdekin Catchment and a massive lower dam, inundating Netherdale and surrounding valley to the base of the Eungella Range.
This 5GW industrial mega-plant will destroy our precious Pioneer Valley and scar the landscape of the majestic Mount Dalrymple.
It will have a devastating impact on one of the most pristine, luxuriant rainforests in the State, destroy tens of thousands of mature subtropical trees and make hundreds of vulnerable species homeless.
It would also obliterate the lives, livelihood and homes of the many residents, farmers and communities who live there.
Other impacts include fragmenting the river catchment and its depletion due to the unsustainable volume of water needed to fill the new mega-dams and replace evaporation losses.
The proposal also involves the construction of a new ‘super-grid’ of giant transmission towers connecting the plant to “regional centres throughout the state.
No trajectory for this transmission corridor has been provided but will almost certainly slice through many sensitive areas of the state’s forests, national parks, wetlands, streams and rivers, posing a threat to vital wildlife habitats, as well as local tourism and recreational attractions.
Countless rural properties, farms, towns, communities across the whole region will be adversely affected by these gigantic and unsightly transmission towers.
The Government’s plan is completely incomprehensible to many of those who live in the area.
Its impact will be enormous, far outstripping any perceived benefits.
If allowed to proceed, this unique region will be lost forever to the people of Queensland and future generations.
The Government is operating without any social licence from the Pioneer Valley community, farmers or Traditional Land Owners.
We need a country where we live in harmony with nature, not industrialise it.
