"HOLSWORTHY
REPORTS COSTLY"
SMH,
FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 1997
"The
Department of Defence has spent
$300,000
on consultancy reports as part of
a growing campaign against use of
the Holsworthy Military Reserve,
near Liverpool, for Sydney's
second airport.
A
leaked internal departmental
brief states that use of
Holsworthy would greatly reduce
the Army's training capacity and
adversely affect its
"operational readiness"
in relation to its Sydney-based
units."
The
article further quotes the
Federal Opposition defence
spokesman, Mr Arch Bevis, as
saying that "such large
expenditures on impact
assessments showed that
Holsworthy was firming as the
most likely site for the new
airport"
MAYOR
OF WOLLONGONG REJECTS SSRAHA
AIRPORT PROTEST
SOURCE:
"The Advertiser" June
4, 1997. Lorraine Pitt.
"An
unprecedented call for
international tourists to boycott
Australia, pressurising the
Federal Government to reject
Holsworthy as a second airport
site, has received the thumbs
down from Wollongong Lord Mayor
David Campbell. Councillor
Campbell said the demand, issued
by the action group Sutherland
Shire Residents Against
Holsworthy Airport, was not in
the interests of the
anti-Holsworthy movement and
would be "cutting off their
noses to spite their faces"
Action group chairman Phil Smith
has said the health of local
residents and the lives of two of
Sydney's remaining koala colonies
were at stake and so drastic
action was called for".
Mayor
Campbell reinforces his
anti-Holsworthy position however,
and Cr Kerrie Christian,
Wollongong City Council's
representative on CRASH (Councils
and Residents Against the
Selection of Holsworthy),
although understanding of
SSRAHA's concerns, "would
not go that far". "We
have to keep putting pressure on
the Government but it's not going
to help by putting jobs at risk
in the hotels and airports and
other ancillary services".
May
7, 1997. Sydney Morning Herald
(Murray Hogarth): "EPA gives
both airport sites the thumbs
down".
The
Sydney Morning Herald's
environment writer reports that
the EPA is not keen on either
second airport sites, Badgerys
Creek or Holsworthy. The EPA is
particularly concerned about the
environmental impacts on the
Badgerys Creek site, but
acknowledges that more
information is known about this
site due to investigations over a
period of 17 years since Badgerys
was established as the site of
Sydney's second airport.
"Both of the sites proposed
for Sydney's second airport will
increase the petrochemical smog
crisis, disrupt sleep and pollute
vital water supplies, according
to a leaked report from the
State's environmental watchdog.
Emissions from both sites will
impact on residential areas - the
delicacy of air quality in the
south-west sub-region means that
every avenue to control emission
levels must be explored."
MY
COMMENT: It reinforces what we
have all been saying. The
Holsworthy proposal is flawed on
a number of fronts and the
current preliminary EIS is a
farce. Potential pollution and
noise impact issues are already
well understood by the general
community. Citizens intuitively
know that pollution will not only
be confined to designated flight
paths but will will affect the
whole of the Sydney basin.
Pollution does not respect
boundaries. Most of the
population in the region will not
settle for anything less than the
removal of Holsworthy proposal
from the Federal Government's
agenda.
For
full text, or to get backcopies
contact the S.M.H. by clicking on
this link:
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April 30,
1997. Source: ABC Television News footage:
Transport Minister's driver decks an
Anti-Holsworthy protestor in Sydney (Ingelburn) -
my interpretation:
Angry
anti-Holsworthy citizens (about 200 in number),
driven to protest by the Federal Government's
silence and blatant lack of consultation with the
community over the Holsworthy issue, presented
themselves at a facility opening today by Mr
Sharp, the Minister of Transport. Symbolic of the
Government's attitude towards citizens affected
by Sydney's second airport proposal, a 71 year
old protestor was virtually "run down"
by the Minister's driver. He received lacerations
and bruising.
A
police enquiry is underway and the driver may be
charged.
My
Comment: What will the
future bring if this Government powers on and
selects Holsworthy as the new airport site? Mass
civil disobedience that has not been seen for
many a year in Australia.
April
28, 1997. Article in Illawarra Mercury (page 3)
entitled "Holsworthy favoured for airport:
ALP -McLachlan under fire"
"Defence
Minister Ian McLachlan's comments on television
were the clearest indication yet that Holsworthy
was now the favored second airport site,
Opposition defence spokesman Arch Bevis said
yesterday. "His
statement that he had an "open mind"
about Holsworthy in spite of the fact that it is
one the very few live firing ranges in south-east
Australia and location of some $150 million in
new defence buildings is akin to hoisting the
white flag," Mr Bevis said. "If there
is anyone in Cabinet who should have a clear and
strong opinion about Holsworthy it should be the
Defence Minister"
It
appears from the article that the Minister has
"an open mind on the matter" and
"could not make any judgements until such
time as that
EIS is done." Mr McLachlan further added
that "the EIS might well rule out Holsworthy
- if it doesn't then there will be some very
detailed considerations" he said.
For
full text, or to get backcopies contact the
Illawarra Mercury by clicking on this link:
 
April
26, 1997. Article in Sydney Morning Herald by
Murray Hogarth entitled "Battle against
second airport takes to the trees" Page 14.
This
article in the Sydney Morning Herald, highlights
the potential plight of Koala colonies at the
Holsworthy site should construction proceed.
"Threatened
Koalas in two small colonies are to be promoted
as wildlife icons in an international campaign
against Holsworthy army base becoming the site of
Sydney's massive 24 hour airport.
Environmentalists fear that the Federal
Government has secretly discarded Badgerys Creek
in favor of the sprawling wilds of Holsworthy, in
Sydney's south, with northern or southern airport
alternatives.
Researchers
who are tracking Koalas in the area say both
Holsworthy options are a "great threat"
to the animals, which can be highly mobile, and
would directly kill many and dangerously isolate
others.
"Its
quite ironic" said Mr Steven Ward from the
University of Western Sydney's Macarthur campus.
"They might put an airport in supposedly for
a lot of tourists to come in, and wipe out a lot
of Koalas which is the main reason for tourists
to come".
From
today, the Councils and Residents Against
Selection of Holsworthy (CRASH) group is starting
to promote the potential plight of the Koalas to
major overseas media outlets, and is planning to
give them star billing on the Internet."
The
article further describes the significance of the
colonies in the area as the "most important
in the Sydney basin." Koala numbers in the
area number about 60 per colony but the number
across Holsworthy is a "great unknown."
The fear is that the Government will not
rigorously apply adequate environmental
assessment standards with the regards to the
colonies. Researchers also fear that the
construction of infrastructure to support the
airport, such as roads and rail access, would
have a dramatic impact on the Koalas.
April 20,
1997. Sun Herald - Alex Mitchell - Entitled
"Holsworthy certain site of airport"
Alex Mitchell writes that the the military
reserve at Holsworthy, south of Sydney on the
edge of the Royal National Park, will be the site
of Sydney's new international airport. Its
not official yet but it will be in a few months.
His seven signs pointing towards this decision:
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THE
HOLSWORTHY AIRPORT ISSUE