1200 'dam' hurdles | Gympie News | Local News in Gympie

No Dam: Locals protest against the proposed Traveston Dam.

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FOR Anna Bligh they are a testament to how comprehensive the environmental assessment has been.

For Tanzi Smith they are a mockery.

The 1200 conditions attached to the Co-ordinator General's evaluation report on the proposed Traveston dam are unsavoury food for thought for the Tiaro native.

“An approval with so many conditions just shows how dumb it is,” Ms Smith, the research co-ordinator for the Greater Mary Association, said.

“It's no surprise. It might be a good laugh if it wasn't so undemocratic.

“The cost involved in researching, administering, implementing and monitoring so many conditions is practically just not feasible.

“It makes a mockery of the whole process. It just shows it's a bad process. It's like an admission.”

Ms Smith argues that the 378-page report fails to show how the conditions will be implemented in reality.

“Once again the people of the Fraser Coast should be up in arms because of the way they continue to be ignored by the State Government,” she said.

The Greater Mary Association has urged Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett to carry out an independent study of the potential impacts of the dam on the Mary River downstream before he makes his final decision on the dam's fate.

“Now the responsibility rests on Peter Garrett's shoulders. It's a question of whether he wants to preside over the death of a river.”

Ms Smith urged anti-dam protesters not to lose faith. “It's just the next step in the process. There's still a way to go.”

The first stage of the Traveston dam was given the green light on Tuesday after three years of environmental assessment, with the report sent to Mr Garrett to assess matters of national environmental significance.

“I look forward to a prompt decision,” Ms Bligh said. “There are more than 1200 separate conditions and requirements which show just how comprehensive the Co-ordinator-General's assessment has been.”

She said the assessment was based on advice from some of the country's foremost scientific experts on the Queensland lungfish, Mary River turtle and Mary River cod.

Ms Smith claims the assessment says the economic, social and environmental effects of the dam downstream will be “negligible”.

Anti-dam campaign groups will convene at Tiaro on Saturday to plan a strategy going forward.

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