South Sister St. Marys, Tasmania
public meeting
A petition was presented to Break O'Day Council on October 2004 opposing the logging of South Sister and supporting the creation of a South and North Sister State Reserve. As a result of this (over 5% of residents enrolled on the electoral roll signed the petition), a public meeting will be held on Wednesday December 15th at 6 pm at the St Marys Hall to discuss this issue. It is hoped that many concerned residents will attend to put their ideas forward and strengthen the argument 'not to log'.
The council is calling for submissions in relation to this issue and it is recommended that as many people as possible write to the council to express their concerns.
Reasons not to log include preservation of the water catchment which supplies residents surrounding South Sister as well as those living in St Marys, protection of the unique flora and fauna found on the South Sister and surrounding area, maintain the mountain in its current state so that residents and tourists can enjoy the views and the many activities which are common on South Sister (bushwalking, rock climbing, bird watching, horse riding etc).
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| Part of the sizable crowd attending the meeting on 15 December at the town hall. |
sequel 2004/12/16
Nearly 200 people joined a public meeting in St Marys last night (Wednesday 15th December, 2004) to express their concerns about the proposed logging on South Sister due to begin in January 2005. The Break O'Day Council called the meeting in response to a petition submitted by more than 5% of the electors in the municipality who opposed logging on South Sister and called for the creation of a South and North Sister Reserve to provide long term protection of the flora, fauna, water catchment and scenic amenity.
Two motions were passed unopposed.
The first motion called for the Break O'Day Council to protect the current and future water supply of residents of the St Marys Water District and request the Minister for Primary Industries Water and the Environment to carry out the necessary investigation of the groundwater regimes and aquifers from which the town water supply is derived.
The second motion called for the creation of a 'Sisters State Reserve' to provide and maintain long term protection of the flora, fauna and their habitat, the water catchment and the scenic amenity highly regarded by the Break O'Day community.
The motion called for the Council to endorse and accept this proposal and to take immediate action under the relevant legislation to initiate the process by which such a Reserve can be created.
The Council received 28 submissions regarding the logging of the South Sister prior to the public meeting which included a petition of 209 signatures of Victorian residents opposed to the logging on South Sister.
The next meeting of the Break O'Day Council will be held in January 2005 and these motions will be discussed at this meeting. It is hoped that Council will take this matter seriously and act upon the two motions outlined above.