The M5 part of WestCONnex is in the pipeline!
Make a submission by Friday 31 July 2015, 5pm.
On 17 July 2015, the RMS lodged a referral under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act with the Australian Department of the Environment. The public has only 10 business days to read, digest and comment on this lengthy document. This is a very restrictive time frame which limits public responses. Find the proposal (Ref. No.: 2015/7520) here.
Both Federal and State environmental legislation require the environmental impacts of developments to be considered as part of the approval/decision-making process. This referral – to assess the impact on “matters of national environmental significance” (ie endangered ecological communities and threatened species) – is the first step to getting the “New M5” built.
Wolli Creek Preservation Society (WCPS) is of the opinion that the content of the referral is inadequate and insufficient to justify the proposed destruction of the environment, or the waste of $15.4 billion of taxpayers’ money. We have prepared a submission asking the Federal Minister for the Environment to reject the M5 proposal and to call a public inquiry.
A short version of the WCPS submission is here for your use. Feel free to copy and paste any of the content into an email, add your own comments, and email it by Friday 31 July 2015, 5pm, to epbc.referrals@environment.gov.au.
The full version of the WCPS submission contains a detailed examination of the impacts on the endangered ecological communities and threatened species, and other concerns. Also attached is a fact sheet from the Queensland Environmental Defenders Office about making submissions under the EPBC Act.
Any public comment sends a message to both levels of Government that the impacts identified in this referral are unacceptable. We need many submissions!
Help stop the “New M5”! Make your voice heard!