On the 12th June 2019, the City of Kwinana council voted on resolutions regarding the Community Consultation Program.
The unanimous decision (8 votes in favor, 0 against) ensures the City maintains its long standing opposition against the Boomerang Road and Banksia Road sand mines, and that the City will only consider the Community Consultation Program once all relevant approvals have been granted including the most up-to-date information. Currency-of-information and accuracy is a big issue plaguing the sand mine proposals by Hanson.
Summary of resolution:
- The approvals relevant to each of the sites are resolved to the extent that enables sand mining operations to commence (this includes all subsequent approvals that may be required). Establishing a Community Consultative Group prior to these approvals being in place is premature.
- The Community Consultation Program is updated to reflect all issues arising from the approvals processes (including the Tumulus Mound Spring TEC – Wellard 01) and is adopted by Council.
Community Consultation Program
It should be noted that whilst the Program was presented behind closed doors in a limited forum of Officers in 2015, we do in fact challenge if it was ever presented to Council since there is no record of Council resolving to adopt the Community Consultation Program.
Since Hanson have never consulted the community, there has been no community input to the consultation program to ensure it adequately addresses the concerns relating to their health, safety and environment. Decisions have been made and approvals have been granted without the community’s involvement. Consultation cannot occur retrospectively and this is a serious failing of the DWER, DMP & Hanson.
To-date there has been no review by the City or by the Community. The draft however highlights the growing evidence relating to Hansons intentions to operate both sand mines concurrently as one integrated operation, who now seek a combined community consultation program. This is significant since Hanson have pursued approvals for both sites in isolation, by different departments under different tenure, with multiple secondary approvals being granted in a piecemeal fashion where there have been no considerations to the significant environmental impacts of the proposals as a whole.
See for the first time below in now publicly available documentation where Rocla (Hanson) represent both mines together. All through the approvals process they have been very separate to limit the scope being reviewed and assessed:
CWPA Community Submission
The CWPA provided a submission and presented it to Council prior to the briefing:
The Community Consultation Program has been the exact opposite, a Community Disengagement Program. The community has been kept in the dark for as long as Hanson and Rocla have had their hands on the Banksia Road site.
Due to ongoing community concern, and a significant number of incorrect and misleading statements by the Proponent regarding community consultation, the CWPA on behalf of all residents undertook their own independent consultation, walking the streets and door knocking from August to October in 2018. The focus was on the Banksia Road site and the results were extremely alarming, not one person had been consulted who lived within the 500 metre EPA recommended buffer zone, there has been no consultation process.
Of significant concern:
- The Department of Mines gave approval in 2016 and made reference to Stakeholder Consultation, I quote, “fairly extensive consultation history to date” as a consideration that supported approval.
- Newspaper articles written by Stuart Horton, Sound Telegraph 8th August 2018, and Kate Emery, West Australian 9th August 2018, had Hanson statements including, “Hanson has committed to a sustained community consultation process to ensure that there is no significant impact on local residents”.
We can tell you none of this is true.
Within the proponent’s documents, a number of incorrect claims have been made about the City of Kwinana’s formal endorsement or consent to parts of the proposal including;
- Road upgrades and maintenance contributions;
- Involvement and endorsement of a proposed community consultation process; and,
- The approval of a mine closure plan and acceptance of the site by the City following mine closure.
As you are aware the City has had no such involvement and made no such agreements with the current Proponent. In September 2018 the CWPA reviewed the Sand Mining Proposal (version 7) and provided to the City with an Analysis of Statements relating to Community Consultation, identifying a significant number of statements that falsely implied community consultation had occurred.
Approvals for each site were sought in isolation by the Proponent, through different Departments, without any consideration to the cumulative impacts. Now suddenly they want to combine them for the Community Consultation group because it would reduce their costs and limit the input and oversight of the Community. This is the very reason we are campaigning to have the sites reassessed as one operation, including the environmental impacts.
Attachment C, a Rocla presentation by Vern Newton, was never presented to Council nor the Community and instead was presented in a closed group by surprise.
Regarding the Officer Recommendations presented in the Report, we ask the Council to accept them with the following amendment.
<see support document #2 below for table>
We ask the City to consider the long history and false claims of community consultation, and take a strong stance in ensuring the Community Consultation Program remains in the interests of the City and its Residents.
Council Decision
That Council authorise the CEO to advise Hanson Construction Materials Pty Ltd of the following:
- The City maintains its long standing opposition to sand mining at Boomerang Road and the Banksia Road Rifle Range.
- The Community Consultation Program (CCP) as per Attachment B, be reviewed once required approvals for both sites have been granted (including clearing permits, works approvals and federal approvals) . The CCP is to have regard to the most up to date information and approvals requirements relevant to the site and be submitted to the City of Kwinana for formal adoption. This would also apply in the event that only one site is granted all approvals necessary to commence sand mine operations.
- The City of Kwinana will only consider the appointment of a representative to the Community Consultative Group once (b) is achieved.
Supporting Documentation
- Council Agenda & Attachments (PDF, 7,761KB)
- Community Submission (PDF, 1,251KB)