birding-aus

South Gippsland (Victoria)

To:
Subject: South Gippsland (Victoria)
From: stuart dashper <>
Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2000 18:21:56 +1100
Dear All,

I recently received the letter below and thought that Victorian birders
should be aware of a proposal to build a high voltage powerline through
south Gippsland. If you are interested in this matter there will be a
public forum entitled Basslink:Public Interest or Private Power on Sunday
the 26th at Richmond Town Hall between 11.30 am - 1.30 pm. The main speaker
will be Bob Brown. The forum is organized by Basslink Concerned citizens
who can be contacted for further information on 03 5197 7397.

Regards 
Stuart Dashper
Conservation Officer
Birds Australia VicGroup 

>
>> Hi, I am writing this to make sure that you know what is being planned
>here
>> in South Gippsland Victoria and to see if you can help in the protection
>of
>> birds.
>>
>> The Basslink project is designed to connect Tasmania to the National
>> Electricity Grid.  The sea cable is proposed to come ashore at McLoughlins
>> Beach near the start of the Ninety Mile Beach at Woodside, Victoria.
>After
>> a 2 km section underground to clear the dunes; it will go up onto 45 metre
>> high pylons and make its way to join the Victorian grid at Loy Yang in the
>> Latrobe Valley (roughly 60 km or so).  Naturally the local community was
>> horrified about the visual impact and have run a successful "No Pylons"
>> campaign.  Rather than do the right thing and put the connection
>underground
>> along one of the proposed routes through cleared private land; Basslink
>now
>> seeks to "hide" its pylons in State reserves and public land for the 1st
>> half of the route after which it is able to more or less proceed in
>> plantation forests.
>>
>> The tragedy of this strategy is that the Basslink consortium (National
>Grid
>> International) is now proposed to go through the Jack Smith Lake Reserve
>(a
>> valuable game and bird wetland with significant useage by migratory birds)
>> and the Mullungdung State Forest (also on the route of many migratory
>birds
>> including the orange bellied parrot; plus home to many raptors notably the
>> Little Eagle ; Wedgetailed eagle; Peregrine falcon etc plus habitat of
>> Powerful Owl).  Even in their own preliminary report Basslink has admitted
>> that these very species are particularly vulnerable to Birdstrike on the
>> overhead cables. I am not an expert on the Jack Smith Lake Reserve; but do
>> you know anyone who is as I am sure a very strong submission on its behalf
>> is desperately needed.  I know more about the Mullungdung but am not
>expert
>> on birds.  I do know that the species I mentioned breed in the Mullungdung
>> and it is a safe haven for them from the more disturbed areas elswhere.
>>
>> The Jack Smith Lake wetland and the Mullungdung State Forest need friends
>to
>> stand up to this insane proposal; and I for one need as much factual
>> information to use in my efforts as I can get.  As far as the vegetation
>and
>> animals are concerned above or below ground routes through these areas of
>> Public Land are equally bad.  In the case of birds the above ground option
>> is disastrous.  But to run an effective opposition to the proposal I would
>> love some facts and to be put in touch with any local experts.
>>
>> Cheers
>> Madelon Lane
>> 
>> 03 51 942 316
>>

Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message
"unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
to 

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
  • South Gippsland (Victoria), stuart dashper <=
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU