Now, if you were to build a 150-home residential site on a wetlands site (like the one proposed for West Ballina), you would obviously need to construct a very firm foundation for your project. Especially if it has recently been inundated by over two metres of floodwater!
So, the necessary importation of mega-tonnes of so-called ‘fill’ required to actually ‘raise’ the site and firm it down, begs some serious consideration and thoughtful questions. Not only for its potential impact to ‘divert’ existing natural water courses, but also that of the native wildlife and flora which it must ‘bury’ in the process. There’ll be no warning sign put up for them!
Considerations: 1) Is it 100 per cent organic and non-toxic?
2) Is the soil content (if any) primarily clay, sand, or a fertile loam ‘compatible’ with the existing medium? Note: clay soils impede water flow with no absorption qualities.
3) Because you just don’t find mega-tonnes of nutrient-rich, fertile, unpolluted loam laying around for the taking, will it then be rubble/stone sustainably sourced from an authorised quarry, or a mixture of general garbage waste?
4) Will it need to be relentlessly pounded into a firm base and/or will it require the even more unacceptable noise levels associated with the drilling and machine hammering down of concrete pylons continuously for 8–10 hours per day, as was the case with Bunnings’, and Emmanuel College’s, recent constructions to elevate ‘their’ sites and so escape the flood devastation around them? Then, after all the frogs, lizards and other non-flying animals who can’t escape the onslaught of encroaching machines are buried alive, will the icing on the mud-cake be a thick layer of concrete? To ensure they don’t do a ‘Lazarus’?
Now, sceptics might say ‘hey, the engineers must know what they’re doing’, but remember ‘they’ also designed our highway by-pass just before the ‘22 flood! Which I, and many others believe exacerbated the resulting devastation. They also dumped a ‘testing pad’ mound in the wrong place allocated to them by Ballina Shire Council, and which is now a potential ‘tool’ for the same developers trying to obtain Land and Environment Court approval for their project. Funny, that!
Remember, as the Boss told Sol: soils ain’t soils!
So is it bye, bye, all God’s creatures ask why? We just can’t breed any more, when our wetlands are dry. Frogs now squat on cement, birds on telephone wires, singing this’ll be the day that I die, this’ll be the day that I die!
(Apologies Mr McLean.)
Laurence, I would suggest you don’t get yourself into a frenzy over this. We need development, you no doubt at some time acquired land to build on. Why would you deny people the same right?. As far as the physical elevating of the land goes, leave that to the geo technicians, engineers and contractors. The little creatures will find a new home, as they did when the previous developments proceeded. You have to accept the growth of the shire will continue, now the Albo government is bringing in millions of people. Some will eventually move to the country areas where they will need land to build on. I too would like to keep our coastal towns as they were 40 years ago, we all know that has not and will not happen. Time to get over it.
Actually, they have already been doing ‘butter box’ estates in the towns out here for about 10 years, and sending foreigners out here to fill them. They are progressively cutting the water allowances of the farms to make it possible. They are, however, finding that once these imports have spent their minimum required time out here, they run away as fast as they can for some unknown reason.