By Diet Simon
The people fighting the proposed construction of high voltage overhead power lines from Ridgewood to Eerwah Vale in the Sunshine Coast hinterland are appealing for signatures to an electronic petition they are submitting to the Queensland parliament.
The petition on the Queensland Government website is sponsored by Peter Wellington, an independent MP and member of the group Save Eumundi - People Advocating Green Energy. For your vote to count you have to be a Queensland resident, Queensland citizens or Queensland elector in a nominated electorate.
The petition is at http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/EPetitions_QLD/CurrentEPetition.as.... It reads:
“Queensland residents draw to the attention of the House the Community’s total opposition to the construction of the proposed 270 KVA overhead transmission lines that will destroy the unique and fragile environmental corridor of Ridgewood to Eerwah Vale. The terrain of this corridor is not fit for purpose and will be a safety issue for residents, maintenance and emergency workers. It will affect the valuable tourist industry by the permanent and obtrusive high voltage towers through this beautiful landscape. The House should note that the proposed construction totally contradicts the Government ‘Q2? plan to reduce our carbon footprint and to protect our lifestyle and environment by introducing more sustainable methods of supplying electricity to the community. The residents believe the dEIS and the consultation process carried out by Parsons Brinkerhoff who is paid by Powerlink is fundamentally flawed. Your petitioners therefore request the House to bring pressure to bear on Powerlink not to proceed with this project through its current proposed route but to seek further independent consultation to choose a more appropriate and safer option.”
On a secretive visit to Peregian Springs, Premier Anna Bligh expressed annoyance at the public’s infiltration of an event at a high school site where critics of the power line plan asked questions.
She wondered where Mike Tsilfidis and wife Jenny, who posed as members of P&C, to get into the tightly controlled gathering, could buy property without powerlines if they chose to sell up and move.
At the same event Bligh dismissed the latest anti-Traveston survey which showed 59% of Brisbane residents did not want the proposed dam. She said the results of two surveys that showed 91% Coast opposition and 88% in the Wide Bay federal electorate were understandable given the dam’s impacts on people’s lives.
Bligh defended the location of a new school which cuts across a koala corridor, saying that providing an education for the children of the growing number of families to the region took precedence.
More on this in the local paper: http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2009/aug/29/no-fanfare-premiers-sunshine...