CANBERRA: Plans to dredge a far north Queensland inlet for a potential cruise ship terminal have been abandoned by the state government on environmental and financial grounds. Treasurer Curtis Pitt has released a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the proposal, which could have involved dumping Cairns Port dredge spoil on waters near the Great Barrier Reef.
He criticised the former Newman government for committing $40 million to the Trinity Inlet project in 2012, saying the money never would have made it viable.”The proposal … would cost more than $100 million and the land-based dumping options around $365 million,” he said.”It was never fully-funded and anyone who looks at the proposal and its environmental and economic impacts can see why the government is not proceeding with it.”
The Palaszczuk government has withdrawn the allocated money.The project would have involved widening, deepening and lengthening the existing outer shipping channel.It would have been constructed and operational by 2017, according to the draft EIS.
The statement acknowledged there are sensitive ecological receptors, including seagrass and corals, which could have been adversely impacted by at-sea dredge spoil dumping.”The world heritage values which ensure the Great Barrier Reef remains listed as World Heritage are required to be protected,” it said.
“While none of the proposed placement options are immediately located within or adjacent to key sensitive receptors, seagrass and reef communities do occur in the wider vicinity.”The government’s announcement has been welcomed by conservation groups who branded the plan ill-conceived and unnecessary.
“Cairns’ natural beauty alongside the Great Barrier Reef makes it a huge tourism drawcard,” Australian Marine Conservation Society spokeswoman Felicity Wishart said.”This development threatened the very environmental values that people treasure when they come to Cairns.”
