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Group fights lime decision

Saskia AdystiAlbany Advertiser
The lime pit site sits on the Nullaki Peninsula west of Albany.
Camera IconThe lime pit site sits on the Nullaki Peninsula west of Albany.

A group of Great Southern residents have banded together to try to overturn a contentious decision to allow lime pit development on the Nullaki Peninsula.

The Nullaki Community Action Group held its first public meeting last Thursday, joined by more than 70 residents.

The group expressed its united voice against the lime pit development and a State Administrative Tribunal decision last month approving the development after the City of Albany rejected the proposal twice.

NCAG committee member John Cullen said the group was prepared for a long battle.

“We’re not going to go down without a fight,” he said.

“As a group, we will come out with strategies to help the council and identify ways to overrule this SAT ruling.”

Mr Cullen said the peninsula was home to several critically endangered animals such as the black cockatoo and western ring-tailed possum, which was not mentioned in the lime pit proposal.

“These are the type of issues that we would like to highlight to our local politicians and get them on-board,” he said.

“We would also find areas to further show that judgment was made in error in the SAT decision.”

Denmark’s Eden Gate Blueberry Farm owner Andre Roy said the lime pit development could also put an end to his 35-year-old farm.

“The mine is going to be located 3km away from our farm,” he said.

“And since lime is highly toxic to blueberries, this mine would put an end to our livelihood.”

Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington said the City had previously spent $150,000 on the appeal and it would be unlikely to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court considering the added cost that might involve.

“The council will need to vote to decide if they could appeal the decision to the higher court,” he said. Lime pit proponent Graeme Robertson said the City should have accepted the first SAT decision.

“This would have saved an enormous amount of ratepayers’ money with the heavy legal cost involved,” he said

Mr Cullen said the Nullaki Community Action Group would continuously raise public awareness on the issue and demand that the council fight for the community of Nullaki. “What’s going to make a difference is how successful we are as a group on raising public awareness of what is going on, so we will need everyone’s help on that matter,” he said.

The public are invited to submit their views on how the mining activities could affect their daily life to the group’s website, savethe nullaki.org.

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