Local residents gathered on the 2nd of May 2004 to show their opposition to the developer's proposed remediation plan which poses grave risks to the environment and to the health of residents. For photos of October 2003 rally .  Click  to see more photos.   Speakers calling for the ANI site to be public land included, Dr Carmen Lawrence, Jim Scott,  lawyer Adele Carles, community member Chrissy Lauritz, Lee Bell (Contaminated Sites Alliance), John Hammond (Keep Cott Low), and John Keall (Save our Sunsets, Scarborough).   Transcript of ABC TV Stateline program 17 Oct 2003

Update 20 November 2004: We have just discovered Stockland have lodged a new remediation plan with the DoE and there is no community consultation Download our pdf flyer 1686 KB
Windows users can right click on link then choose "Save Target As"

News flash 18 June 2004 - SOUTH BEACH DEVELOPMENT DELAYED:    ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH CONCERNS
We have just received correspondence from the Department of Environment and the Health Department saying that they are not prepared to approve the current remediation plans for the ANI site.  This is a major setback for Stockland the South Beach developer who wants to put housing on this ocean front site.

The State Government has said it won't even look at any further remediation plans until Stockland pays for a third party contaminated sites auditor from NSW or Victoria to review their proposal. 

Potentially Stockland could overcome the DOE and Health concerns by spending tens of millions to remediate.  This is unlikely to be commercially viable.  Even if they did spend this sort of money, we still say that the 100m Coastal Policy has been breached and we will be going to the Supreme Court to make sure that the policy is applied. 

THE CURRENT REMEDIATION PROPOSAL BY STOCKLAND, May 2004

•  75,000 cubic metres of industrial fill to be excavated to 5 metres down to remove rubble, which is 'geotechnically unsuitable' for constructing houses on.
• This industrial fill, which contains contaminants including lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, manganese, nickel and zinc is to be passed through on site screens to sift out the large rubble for removal.
•  10,000 cubic metres is to be disposed of, so the rest, that is 65,000 cubic metres is to stay on site to be 'recycled' to use the developers' language.
• A clean layer, 0.5 metres thick is to be placed on top of site.

Major Problems with Stockland's remediation proposal

• This is a windy coastline, with residents as close as 200 metres from the site and beach and cycle track users to consider.
• No cover is proposed for the excavation of this contaminated site.
• Exceedences of lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, manganese, nickel and zinc found across whole site.  Under Stockland's current proposal, our experts say that these will blow over the beach and local residents.
• There has been no Environmental Impact Assessment on how this proposed excavation will impact on the dune system and the coastal environment.

 Comments on developers letterbox flyer dated 2 June.   Analyses of bore hole intervals and bore location map.

ADELE CARLES SAYS,"PUBLIC SAFETY IS OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY.  We do not believe that the developer can safely remediate this site for housing.  We have not found one example anywhere in the world of a site as contaminated as this, on a windy coastline, being remediated for housing.  This is a high risk experiment that the developer and the Government are embarking upon and the residents of Fremantle are set to be the guinea pigs.  So what is our solution?
 
Ideally, all of the contamination should be removed in a safe manner - this includes all of the contamination to the south of the site and in the dunes.  This would cost tens of millions of dollars.  Unfortunately no-one is offering to fund this option and whether such contamination could be removed safely on such a windy site is debatable.
 
We say that the only safe solution is for the Government to claim this site back now under the 100m setback provisions of the State Coastal Policy.  It appears that the safest and most cost effective option is for the site to be encapsulated and capped with soil or concrete.  This means leaving the contamination where it is, as the risks associated with disturbing it are too great.  The site could be used as a carpark and recreational area."

You can help !!

Main Issues, any one of which we say makes the ANI locality unsuitable for housing

Railway noise which will increase with planned traffic increases, the normal railway housing set back of 65 metres should be applied

Coastal Setback, we say, "...apply the law.." in the Governments own "Coastal Policy" and implement the 100 metre setback.

Contamination see map and drill results from the developers Feb 2004 report showing that almost all drill holes encountered soils with metals exceeding health guidelines, lead up to 16,000 ppm (1.6%) and commonly several thousand ppm.

Erosion Issue  The Government and developers seem oblivious of the high rate of erosion in progress over the last decade as evidenced by their inaccurate statements (see "Exactly what land ?" link above), about the proposed setback at the south end of the ex ANI land.  The 2002 photo-map below shows the southern boundary of the ex ANI land is east of the "spiral" shaped shrub patch on the bike path.
The first air photo from 1994 shows sand right out to the old end of the Island Street groyne, marked G, note width of beach & vegetation at south (right) end.

This photo from 2002 photo shows the stunning erosion over 8 years, note groyne extension post 1994.

Click on photos for larger pictures

We contend that the high rate of erosion of about 40 metres in a decade (at the south end of ANI land) makes a mockery of the set backs proposed for the ANI development.  

We ask the Government, "...what is so hard to understand about the extreme rate of coastal retreat revealed in  their own air photographs ?"  Retreat of the cliffs is mainly due to wave action in storm surge enhanced high tides. See Coastal tide data website in links list, go to Fremantle FBH link for graph showing any tide surge which often occur during passage of westerly fronts.

Contact:  You can email us at  mail@savesouthbeach.com

Links

ABC News "Fremantle housing development delayed"
http://www.abc.net.au/wa/news/200406/s1135636.htm

WA Dept for Planning and Infrastructure
http://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/

Conservation Council of Western Australia (Inc.)
http://www.conservationwa.asn.au/

WA Dept for the Environment
http://www.environ.wa.gov.au/

Coastal tide data site, graph storm surge height for different localities. When westerly gales blow, check this site for tide times, see the storm surge graphically and go down to the cliffs at high tide to see the erosion happening.
http://www.coastaldata.transport.wa.gov.au/tides/storm_surge_index.html

WA Planning Commission
http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/

Freo Focus web site has local Fremantle news including reports on our rally.
http://freofocus.com

Jim Scott media release on South Beach
May 2003
http://www.mp.wa.gov.au/jscott/media/coveringsouth.26.6.txt

September 2003
http://www.mp.wa.gov.au/jscott/media/ANIcoast25.9.txt

May 2003 news item from Murdoch University on toxic issue re South Beach cliffs
http://emunews.murdoch.edu.au/SOUTHBEACHTOXICDANGERALERT.htm

Richard G. Hartley - Western Australian Gold Smelters in the 1900s and the Northampton connection
http://www.econs.ecel.uwa.edu.au/AMHA/Newslett/news26.htm

Groups pushing for better coastal planning outcomes.
Leighton Action Coalition Inc.
http://freo.com/leighton/

Keep Cott Low has been formed with the objective of keeping buildings, particularly along the Cottesloe foreshore, to a reasonable scale and dimension.
http://www.keepcottlow.com/

Have your say on Scarborough Beach issues; register and vote in High Rise Poll
http://scarboro.info/

Save Ningaloo Campaign
http://www.save-ningaloo.org/

Canal-Free Coogee Campaign
http://members.iinet.net.au/~robret/

Smiths Beach Action Group
http://www.savesmithsbeach.com/