Call to 'click and save' Bay

The proposed area for the Norman Point marina and the Indo Pacific humpback which Sandy Straits Marine Environmental Group president Carole Gillies, says is in danger of being destroyed by “powerful developers” if plans to build the marina go ahead.

File Photo

AN important ruling is about to take place in parliament that will greatly impact the community and environment of Tin Can Bay. So much so, that the whole of Australia has been called on to help protect it.

Carole Gillies, president of the Southern Sandy Straits Marine Environmental Group, said the battle to save one of the “few outstanding ecosystems” on Australia’s east coast had now escalated to a federal issue.

She said Tin Can Bay was host to a “unique, unspoiled and special” habitat for threatened species, including the Indo Pacific humpback, which was in danger of being destroyed by a “powerful developer’s” plans to build a large marina right in the middle of it.

Ms Gillies called on all Australians to “click and save Tin Can Bay” by visiting www.marina.tincanbaydolphins.com.au. She stressed the importance of acting immediately during this “small window off opportunity” environmental groups had to secure the site for wildlife.

“Cutting through the thick weave of daily information is not an easy thing to do... (Which is why) we’ve made it easier for people to put pressure on the government to reject the developer’s plans,” she said.

“Cooloola’s pending World Heritage Listing status may be compromised if newly appointed Environment Minister Tony Burke approves the development of (this) large marina. At this final hour, we hope to create a momentum that involves Australians in this very important decision.”

Since 2004 the Cooloola Coast community has banded together in the fight against the Seymour Group’s marina development proposal for Norman Point.

When the plans became public, more than 5000 signatures in protest were collected in just a few months and the matter became one of national significance because of the marina’s potential impact on threatened and migratory species.

“This is a nationally important marine wilderness – we need to make that clear. We don’t have to recover it unlike nearby Moreton Bay. It’s in a pristine state with outstanding biodiversity values,” Ms Gillies said.

“The development of a marina will create irreversible damage. We have fought the developer and State Government for the last five years and now we’re asking Australians to lend their voice to help protect Tin Can Bay and its vitally important inhabitants.

“The area is unique, unspoiled and special – a perfect habitat for species that are threatened all over the world and we need to make a stand and save some critical habitat for them.”

A family of Indo Pacific humpback dolphins has been visiting Norman Point at Tin Can Bay since the 1950s and after four generations, they still swim up to people standing in knee deep water – at a spot earmarked for a boardwalk by the developer.

Click to save the Bay at marina.tincanbaydolphins.com.au.